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BX  6480  .M34  L48  1888 

Lewis,  J.  Nelson 

Judson  centennial  service: 


1788.         AUGUST   Othi,         186 


6. 


'jODSON  CENTENNIAL  SERVICES. 


A     CON/[]PILAXION 

OF    THE 

ADDRESSES,  PAPERS,  AID  REMARKS, 

GIVEN    AT    THESE    SERVICES; 

TOGETHER    WITH 

EXTRACTS    FROM  LETTERS  RECEIVED  BY  THE 
COMMITTEE,  ETC.; 

BY 

REV.  J.  NELSON  LEWIS,  PASTOR, 

OF 

THE    FIRST   BAPTIST    CHURCH, 

MALDEN,    MASS. 


MYSTIC   SIDE    PRESS  : 
A.    Q.    BeOWN,    STEAM   FRINTEK. 


■^372 


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PREFACE. 


It  was  but  natural  that  the  Baptist  church,  occupying  the 
field  so  distinguished  as  the  birthplace  of  Adoniram  Judson, 
should  make  the  memorable  9th  of  August,  1888,  a  day  for 
especial  memorial  services.  At  the  first  the  more  local  observ- 
ance was  in  mind,  but  as  the  matter  was  entered  upon,  the  wide 
significance  of  the  day  in  the  calendar  of  Baptist  mission  history, 
and  all  mission  history,  led  to  a  widening  of  the  plan,  until  it 
included  in  its  invitations  the  churches  in  the  immediate  vicin- 
ity, and  officers  of  the  National  and  State  Baptist  bodies,  with 
leading  men  of  other  faiths.  Had  it  been  less  wide  in  its  rep- 
resentation, the  service  would  not  have  called  for  an  extended 
report.  But  the  correspondence  of  the  Committee  became  so 
interesting,  the  speeches  of  the  visiting  brethren  were  so  able 
and  valuable,  and  so  many  choice  things  were  crowded  out  for 
want  of  time,  that  it  seemed  but  justice  to  the  church  itself, 
and  to  the  denomination  at  large,  that  a  full  report  of  the  pro- 
ceedings should  be  made  ;  and  more,  that  they  should  be  made 
in  convenient  and  permanent  form. 

For  these  reasons  we  have  issued  the  present  pamphlet,  and 
trust  that  the  labor  of  compiling  may  find  its  reward  in  a  wider 
impulse  to  foreign  missions  being  given  to  the  churches  where 
these  pages  shall  come.  In  the  make-up  we  have  followed  as 
nearly  as  practicable  the  programme  of  the  day. 

J.  NELSON  LEWIS. 
Pastor^ s  Study,  Maiden,  I^ov.  1,  1888. 


COMMITTEES  ON  JUDSON  CENTENNIAL 


GENERAL    COMMITTEE. 
REV.  J.  NELSON  LEWIS,  Chairman. 

A.  R.  TURNER,  Jr.,  Secretary. 

W.   C.  LANGLEY,  Treasurer. 


SUB-COMMITTEES,    with  name  of  Chairman. 

Speakers  and  Music, J.  N.  Lewis. 

Invitation, Dea.  J.  H.  Parker. 

Reception,  Dea.  E.  S.  Converse. 

Registration, Mr.  C.  C.  Converse. 

Church  Arrangements,      ....         Mr.  E.  F.  Bickford. 

Decoration, Mr.  Geo.  C.  Currier. 

Reception  at  Birthplace,        .        .        .      Dea.  David  Hutchins. 
Reception  at  Depots,  .        .        .  Mr.  Arthur  Leonard. 

Collation,  Mrs.  Charles  Watts. 

Entertainment, Mr.  Jesse  Cudworth. 


DECORATIONS  AND  DEVOTBKS. 


IFrom  Zion's  Advocate.'] 

"  The  church  was  elegantly  decorated  for  the  occasion.  On 
the  wall  at  the  left  of  the  pulpit  is  a  marble  tablet,  placed  there 
many  years  ago  by  the  late  Dea.  Charles  Merrill,  containing  this 
inscription  written  by  S.  F.  Smith,  author  of  "  America :  " 

IN     MEMORIAM, 

REV.    ADONIRAM   JUDSON. 

BORN    AUG.    9,    1788. 

DIED    APRIL    12,    1850. 

MALDEN    HIS    BIRTHPLACE, 

THE    OCEAN    HIS    SEPULCHRE. 

CONVERTED    BURMANS    AND 

THE    BURMAN    BIBLE 

HIS    MONUMENT. 

HIS    RECORD    IS    ON    HIGH. 

Above  the  tablet  an  oil  portrait  of  Dr.  Judson  was  hung. 
On  either  side  were  red  and  blue  silk  pennants,  while  evergreens 
and  vines  enclosed  the  tablet.  Below  was  an  open  copy  of  Jud- 
son's  Burmese  Bible  adorned  with  flowers,  and  beneath,  an 
inscription,  "•  Rangoon,  Mandalay,  Ava,  1788-1888."  On  the 
pulpit  platform,  at  the  left,  resting  on  a  bank  of  ferns,  was  a 
beautiful  floral  representaion  of  the  bark  "Caravan,"  in  which 
Judson  and  his  wife  sailed  from  Salem,  Mass.,  Feb.  19,  1812. 
The  hull  was  composed  of  white  China  asters,  with  a  water  line 


/ 

8  JtJDSON  'CENfENNIAL. 

(' 

of  purple  immortelles.  On  the  right  of  the  pulpit  platform  was 
an  old  arm-chair,  used  by  Dr.  Judson  while  translating  the  Bible 
into  the  Burmese  language.  It  is  the  property  of  Rev.  Dr.  A.  P. 
Mason,  and  was  a  gift  to  him  from  Dr.  Judson.  On  the  wall 
back  of  the  pulpit  were  the  words,  ''America,  Burma."  There 
was  also  on  exhibition,  in  an  open  frame  under  glass,  the  first 
letter  written  by  Ann  H.  Judson  after  she  became  a  Baptist. 
It  was  addressed  to  Mrs.  Jonathan  Carleton,  of  Boston,  and  was 
signed  "Nancy  Judson."  In  it  she  says:  "We  have  found  by 
experience  since  we  left  our  native  land  that  the  Lord  is  indeed 
a  covenant-keeping  God,  and  takes  care  of  those  who  confide  in 
Him.  I  have  ever  considered  it  a  singular  favor  that  God  has 
given  me  an  opportunity  to  spend  my  days  in  a  heathen  land." 
At  the  hour  for  the  afternoon  service,  half-past  two,  the  house 
was  crowded  in  every  part.  Missionaries,  pastors,  representa- 
tives of  churches,  each  wearing  a  white  silk  badge  on  which  was 
printed  in  blue,  a  sketch  of  Judson's  birthplace,  with  an  appro- 
priate inscription,  were  there  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  a 
notable  company,  while  on  the  pulpit  platform  were  grouped 
the  various  participants  in  the  service. 

A  reception  at  the  Judson  birthplace,  a  description  of  which 
is  given  in  this  pamphlet,  immediately  followed  the  afternoon 
service,  and  the  honored  and  widely-known  son,  Edward  Jud- 
son, D.  D.,  here  extended  the  hand  of  welcome,  to  the  tribute 
paying  friends  of  the  infant  first  sheltered  by  the  same  roof  that 
now  sheltered  the  son. 


CONDKNSKD     HISTORY 

OF  THE 

KiRST    Baptist  Church, 

MALDEN,  MASS. 


Taken   from    Church    Manual. 


HE  town  of  Maiden  was  incorporated  in  1649.     About 
that  time   a  Congregational  church  was  formed,  which 
^     continued  to  be  the  only  church  at  the  Centre  until  1803, 
when  the  First  Baptist  church  was  organized. 

For  several  years  before  the  formation  of  this  church,  a  few 
persons  in  the  town  were  known  to  entertain  Baptist  sentiments. 
Various  circumstances  had  led  some  of  the  more  pious  people  to 
examine  the  subject  of  believers'  baptism.  Not  a  few  of  the 
members  of  the  Parish  church,  admitted  through  infant  baptism, 
had  become  the  active  opponents  of  the  great  revival  which  was 
then  commencing  in  New  England.  An  energetic  protest  to 
the  settlement  of  Mr.  Judson,  the  father  of  our  beloved  Burman 
missionary,  had  ])een  entered  on  the  records,  because  he  was  of 
the  "  Bade  Hopkintonian  Principles."  The  opposition  to  what 
was  then  so  properly  called  "  experimental  religion,"  at  length 
prevailed,  and  Mr.  Judson  retired.  But  the  eyes  of  many  were 
opened.  They  began  to  inquire  whether  the  so-called  "  infant 
believers'  baptism  "  was  the  only  authorized  baptism  ;  and  hence, 
by  that  scriptural  precedent  to  which  all  appealed,  according  to 
which,  baptism  is  required  before  the  communion,  those  who 
had  not  received  believers'  baptism  were  not  suitable  candidates 
for  the  "  table  of  the   Lord."     But  while  some  professed  their 


10  JiJDSON   CENTENNIAL. 

convictions,  and  united  with  Baptist  churches  in  this  vicinity, 
others  remained  waiting  to  see  whereunto  this  thing  would 
grow.  Meanwhile,  there  was  in  this  town  an  alarming  dearth 
of  spiritual  religion.  Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  in  1797 
Rev.  Dr.  Shephard,  of  Brentwood,  N.  H.,  visited  Maiden,  and 
was  invited  to  preach  at  the  house  of  Mr.  John  Tufts.  This 
sermon,  the  first  Baptist  sermon  ever  preached  in  the  town, 
attracted  immediate  attention,  so  different  was  its  whole  spirit 
from  anything  heard  at  the  Parish  church.  Meetings  were  con- 
tinued on  the  afternoon  and  evening  of  every  third  Wednesday, 
Rev.  Messrs.  Shephard,  Peak  and  Smith  officiating.  God  blessed 
the  enterprise,  and  a  revival  of  religion  was  the  result.  Sabbath 
preaching  began  in  the  year  1800.  The  first  person  baptized  in 
Maiden  was  Mrs.  Lois  Tufts,  who  received  the  ordinance  at  the 
hands  of  Rev.  E.  Smith. 

In  1803,  Rev.  Henry  Pottle  visiting  the  place,  was  invited 
to  preach.  He  was  a  zealous  and  warm-hearted  man,  and  under 
his  fervent  appeals  a  very  large  number  were  awakened,  about 
fifty  of  whom  he  subsequently  baptized.  From  the  Centre  school 
house  where  services  had  been  held,  persecution  soon  drove  the 
little  band.  No  other  place  could  be  found,  except  the  barn  on 
Salem  street,  owned  by  Mr.  Benjamin  Faulkner.  It  was  an 
humble  sanctuary,  and  there,  undeterred  by  the  winter  storm, 
or  the  opposition  of  their  enemies,  the  little  band  enjoyed  the 
favor  of  their  God. 

Near  the  close  of  the  year  1803,  forty-two  persons  who  had 
been  baptized,  agreed,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Pottle,  to  form 
a  Baptist  church.  They  met  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Phillips,  and 
Mr.  Joseph  Dyer  was  chosen  clerk.  A  committee  was  appointed 
to  call  a  Council,  that  their  proceedings  might  be  regular  in 
form,  and  that  the  new  church  might  be  in  fellowship  with  the 
surrounding  churches  of  their  "  Faith  and  Order."  The  Coun- 
cil, composed  of  delegates  from  the  Baptist  churches  in  Boston, 
Newton  and  Beverly,  convened  on  the  27th  of  December,  1803, 
in  the  barn,  when  the  brethren  and  sisters,  forty-two  in  num- 
ber, were  duly  constituted  and  recognized  as  a  church,  under 
the  name  of  the  First  Baptist  church  in  Maiden.  Rev.  Dr. 
Stillman,  of  Boston,  preached  the  sermon  of  recognition,  from 
1  Chron.  29:  5,  '■'■Who  is  willing  to  consecrate  this  day  his  service 


JUDSON    CENTENNIAL.  11 

unto  the  Lord  ? "  The  Hand  of  Fellowship  was  given  to  the 
representative  of  the  new  church  by  Rev.  T.  Baldwin,  of  Boston- 
It  will  be  seen  that  this  church  originated  in  a  revival  of  re- 
ligion, and  this  revival  was  induced,  under  God,  by  the  study 
of  the  scriptures.  The  stand  taken  by  our  fathers  upon  the 
matter  of  baptism  for  believers  only,  was  instrumental  in  call- 
ing the  public  attention  to  the  need  in  which  men  stood  of 
becoming,  personally,  believers.  And  the  founders  of  this 
church,  and  their  successors,  have  alwaj^s  insisted  upon  credible 
evidence  of  personal  piety  before  admitting  any  to  the  ordinance 
of  baptism. 

The  church  thus  constituted,  continued  to  meet  in  the  barn 
until  September,  1804,  when  their  first  house  of  worship  was  so 
far  completed  that  they  could  occupy  it.  It  was  built  on  Salem 
street,  on  the  ground  now  set  apart  as  a  rural  cemetery,  and 
when  finished,  it  was  publicly  dedicated  to  the  service  of  God. 
The  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  T.  Baldwin,  from  1  Sam.  7 : 
12,  '■''Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us.^'  The  prayer  of  dedica- 
tion was  offered  by  Rev.  E.  Williams. 

On  the  10th  of  April  following,  the  committee  engaged  Mr. 
Pottle  to  be  pastor  for  one  year.  In  January,  1804,  the  Lord's 
Supper  was  celebrated  for  the  first  time,  when  sixty-four  per- 
sons sat  down  to  commemorate  "  the  Lord's  death,"  fifty-two  of 
them  being  recent  converts. 

The  pastors  of  this  church  have  been  Rev.  Mr.  Pottle,  1804- 
1807  ;  Rev.  William  Bentley,  1807-1808  ;  1808-1816,  no  settled 
pastor  ;  Rev.  Ebenezer  Nelson,  1816-1823  ;  Rev.  John  Cookson, 
1824-1826  ;  Rev.  J.  N.  Brown,  December,  1826-January,  1828 ; 
Rev.  Avery  Briggs.  1828-1832;  Rev.  Conant  Sawyer,  1832- 
1835 ;  Rev.  E.  N.  Harris,  1837,  about  one  year ;  Rev.  Joseph 
M.  Driver,  1838-1840  ;  Rev.  Nathaniel  W.  Williams,  1840-1843 ; 
Rev.  John  Cookson  (2d  time),  1843-1848;  Rev.  Charles  B. 
Smith,  1848-1850 ;  Rev.  William  F.  Stubbert,  September,  1851- 
1859;  Rev.  D.  W.  Faunce,  D.  D.,  May,  1860- August,  1866; 
Rev.  George  F.  Warren,  June,  1867-November,  1869 ;  Rev. 
S.  W.  Foljambe,  D.D.,  July,  1870-1887 ;  Rev.  J.  Nelson  Lewis, 
October,  1887,  present  pastor. 


NlKNIORIAIv     HYIVLN, 

Written  for  the  occasion  by  Rev.  S.  F.  SMITH,   D.   D. 

AUTHOR    OF    "AMERICA." 
Tune:— Duke  Street. 


What  grateful  mem'ries  o'er  us  throng! 

Like  billows  on  the  boundless  sea, 
Bursts  of  heav'n's  mighty  song, 

Grand  foretastes  of  eternity. 

'Twas  here  the  cradle  song  began, 
'Twas  here  the  pulse  of  life  was  stirred, 

Of  him,  the  great,  th'  heroic  man, 

Whose  name  round  the  whole  world  is  heard. 

What  sounding  honors  shall  we  bring. 
What  hymns  of  holy  triumph  raise 

To  Him  who  plumed  the  infant  wing 
O'er  distant  lands  lo  waft  His  praise  ? 

Our  eager  hands  with  joy  shall  lift 

The  banner  which  be  first  unfurled, — 

To  myriad  souls  a  priceless  gift, — 
The  signal  of  a  conquered  world. 


MHiMORIAL   ADDRKSS, 

BY 

REV.     J.    N.     MURDOCK,    D.     D.,     LL.D., 
Foreign  Sec'y  of  The  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union. 


Mr.  Chairman.,  and  Christian  Friends  : — 

T  WAS  glad  while  in  England  to  learn  that  this  church,  lo- 
'f '  cated  in  the  ancient  town  where  Adoniram  Judson  was 
]  born,  was  making  arrangements  to  commemorate  the  cen- 
tennial of  his  birth.  The  public  records  verify  this  as  the  place, 
and  this  9th  of  August,  1788,  as  the  date,  of  the  birth  of  one  of 
the  greatest  men  of  his  time.  Maiden  does  itself  honor  in  hon- 
oring  the  memory  and  recalling  the  services  of  its  most  distin- 
guished son.  Though  it  fell  to  my  lot  more  than  thirty  years 
ago,  as  editor  of  the  Christian  Revieu\  to  write  an  account  of 
Dr.  Judson's  life  and  work,  in  reviewing  his  memoirs  by  the 
late  President  Wayland,  and  though  I  have  so  recently  written 
and  published  a  centennial  sketch,  grouping  the  incidents  of 
his  life  around  the  two  thoughts,  that  God  selected  him  as  the 
Apostle  of  Burma,  and  kept  Burma  open  for  his  coming,  and 
can  therefore  hardly  expect  to  say  anything  very  fresh  on  this 
occasion,  I  gladly  contribute  what  I  can  in  carrying  out  your 
most  worthy  design. 

We  can  scared}^  fail  to  be  reminded  of  the  vast  changes 
that  have  taken  place  during  the  hundred  years  since  Judson 
entered  into  this  earthly  life.  The  rural  community  in  which 
he  made  his  advent  has  become  involved  in  a  great  metropolitan 
centre.     The  town  of  Boston,  which  was  then  only  a  slightly 


14  JUDSGN    CENTENNIAL. 

overgrown  village,  has  become  an  imperial  city,  in  which  the 
lines  of  commerce  and  the  communication  of  thought  converge. 
The  scattered  and  widely-separated  nations,  once  so  remote  in 
point  of  time  and  space,  have  become  so  connected  by  steam 
and  electricity  as  to  constitute  only  a  dense  and  vast  commu- 
nity. One  hundred  years  ago  there  were  less  than  3,000,000 
inhabitants  of  a  new  republic  where  there  are  now  more  than 
65,000,000.  Then,  all  the  members  in  the  evangelical  churches 
numbered  less  than  300,000 ;  now  there  are  more  than  14,000,- 
000.  There  was  then  no  well-organized  missionary  society  in 
all  the  land,  though  John  Eliot  and  David  Brainerd  had  wrought 
nobly  for  the  conversion  of  some  of  the  Indian  tribes.  The 
church  had  not  yet  come  to  understand  the  command  of  her 
Lord  to  "go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature."  In  fact,  with  the  exception  of  the  Moravian  move- 
ment of  1732,  and  the  Halle-Danish  Society,  neither  of  which 
had  produced  very  marked  results,  there  was  not  a  sign  of  world- 
wide evangelistic  purpose.  I  do  not  mention  the  English  Soci- 
ety for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  for  that  was  not  designed 
as  an  evangelizing  agency.  Now  there  are  more  than  150  mis- 
sionary societies,  employing  7,000  agents  who  are  preaching  the 
gospel  to  the  benighted  peoples  of  the  earth,  and  the  foreign 
missionary  enterprise  has  become  the  centre  and  focus  of  the 
Christian  activities  of  the  time.  A  hundred  years  ago,  the 
churches  were  indifferent  or  doubtful,  while  all  the  govern- 
ments of  the  world,  Christian  as  well  as  pagan,  were  arrayed 
against  missions  to  the  heathen.  Now,  every  spiritual  church 
in  all  the  world  is  committed  to  the  great  work,  while  ^the  pow- 
ers of  the  earth  are  in  active  league  with  it,  or  are  consenting 
to  it.  When  the  babe  of  one  hundred  years  ago  was  born  in 
yonder  Puritan  parsonage,  there  were  a  little  over  40,000,000 
Protestants  in  all  the  world ;  now  there  are  about  170,000,000. 
What  a  century  this  dawning  life  began  I  If  the  next  hundred 
years  shall  go  on  in  the  same  ratio  of  progress,  the  second  cen- 
tennial of  Judson's  birth  will  be  kept  amidst  the  dazzling  glories 
and  jubilant  songs  of  the  millennial  day  ! 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  man,  whom  we  have  met 
here  to  commemorate,  contributed  his  full  share  to  the  marvel- 
lous religious  progress  of  the  last  hundred  years.     His  life  com- 


JUDSON    CENTKNNIAL.  15 

prised  only  sixty-one  years  and  eight  months  of  the  century  we 
are  contemplating,  but  how  great  and  far-reaching  was  the  work 
he  did,  and  the  agencies  he  set  in  motion.  His  share  in  the 
constitution  of  the  American  Board  was  very  considerable,  if 
it  was  not  leading;  and  without  a  doubt  he  was  the  occasion  of 
calling  the  Baptist  Board  into  existence  and  vigorous  action. 
When  we  reflect  how  vast  and  beneficent  the  issues  of  these  two 
societies  have  been,  and  how  incommensurable  are  the  possibili- 
ties involved  in  their  foundation,  their  missions,  their  mission- 
aries, their  thousands  of  converts,  every  one  of  whom  is  a  mul- 
tiplication of  evangelistic  force,  their  colleges  and  theological 
seminaries,  and  other  schools  of  various  grades,  all  contributing 
to  consolidate  the  people  into  effective  factors  of  future  prog- 
ress, we  only  get  glimpses  of  the  significance  of  the  life  which 
opened  a  century  ago. 

We  cannot  account  for  the  results  to  which  we  have  alluded 
by  saying  that  the  life  of  Judson  fell  on  a  period  of  dawning 
light,  and  of  an  unfolding  divine  purpose.  We  sometimes  say 
that  men  are  formed  by  the  circumstances  in  which  their  lives 
are  cast.  But  circumstances  do  not  make  men.  At  the  most 
they  only  test  the  qualities  of  men,  and  show  what  their  real 
making  is.  All  the  great  predestinated  movements  in  society 
are  brought  to  pass  through  the  instrumentality  of  predestinated 
men, —  men  of  giant  mould  and  exceptional  endowments.  The 
hour  and  the  man  are  always  matched  in  the  providential  plan. 
Dr.  Judson  was  a  great  man  in  the  highest  sense  of  that  phrase  ; 
great  in  intellect,  great  in  will,  great  in  moral  qualities,  fertile 
in  resources,  inflexible  in  purpose,  and  unswerving  in  integrity. 
These  endowments  were  informed  and  pervaded  by  a  spiritual 
consecration,  which  subordinated  every  faculty  and  power  to 
the  obedience  of  faith.  Here,  then,  was  the  hiding  of  his  pow- 
er. He  accomplished  the  great  results  of  his  life,  not  from  the 
intensity  of  his  love  for  humanity,  not  even  under  the  fervors 
of  his  love  for  Him  whom  he  had  deliberately  accepted  as  his 
Lord  and  Pattern,  but  from  an  overmastering  and  all-compre- 
hending sense  of  Duty.  From  the  day  that  he  accepted  Christ 
as  his  Saviour,  he  also  accepted  the  law  of  service.  Having 
been  bought  with  a  price,  he  belonged  henceforth  to  his  Master, 
and  gave  himself  up  to  obey  His  Word  and  do  His  will. 


16 


JUDSON    CENTENNIAL. 


This  sense  of  loyalty  to  Christ  led  to  the  effort  which  he 
made,  in  company  with  others,  to  organize  a  society  for  foreign 
missions.  The  petition  which  he  drafted  for  the  General  Asso- 
ciation of  Massachusetts,  the  interviews  he  held  with  the  lead- 
ing ministers  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  the  importunity  with 
which  he  followed  them,  all  came  from  this  lofty  principle.  This 
sustained  him  in  the  face  of  difficulties,  rendered  him  superior 
alike  to  ridicule  and  reproach,  and  held  him  steadily  to  the  one 
end  he  had  set  before  him,  as  at  once  the  guide  and  inspiration 
of  his  life. 

See  also  the  force  of  this  supreme  motive  in  enabling  him  to 
sever  the  ties  and  surrender  all  the  privileges  and  hallowed  asso- 
ciations of  country  and  home  and  Christian  fellowship,  to  go  to 
a  land  of  darkness  and  barbarous  customs,  to  dwell  among,  and 
labor  for  a  people  whose  tender  mercies  were  cruel.  He  stood, 
as  a  soldier  of  Christ,  on  a  forlorn  hope,  not  counting  his  life 
dear  unto  himself,  that  he  might  finish  the  ministry  he  had  re- 
ceived of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of 
God  to  the  heathen.  Closing  his  eyes  to  all  the  seductions  of 
home  and  friends,  and  the  sanctified  pleasures  of  Christian  asso- 
ciations, he  went  fortli,  bound  in  the  Spirit,  to  his  divinely 
appointed  and  accepted  work.  In  spite  of  the  doubts  of  the 
majority  of  his  brethren,  the  remonstrances  of  well-meaning 
friends,  and  the  jeers  and  contempt  of  a  scoffing  world,  he  reso- 
lutely pursued  his  way,  not  knowing  the  things  that  would 
befall  him. 

Moreover,  we  are  able  to  see,  in  the  light  of  this  motive, 
how  he  was  borne  on  in  the  careful  investigation  which  he 
instituted,  as  to  the  grounds  of  the  faith  and  practice  which  he 
had  received  from  the  traditions  of  his  fathers.  Far  be  it  from 
us  to  refer  to  Dr.  Judson's  change  of  ecclesiastical  relations  in 
any  controversial  or  sectarian  sense.  It  is  only  because  the 
change  belongs  to  his  history,  and  contributed  so  largely  to 
shape  his  subsequent  life,  that  it  is  referred  to  here.  He  had 
only  one  thought  in  beginning  and  prosecuting  his  researches, 
which  was  to  be  sure  of  his  ground,  and  to  know  the  way  of 
duty.  When  Mrs.  Judson  begged  him  to  desist  from  the  inves- 
tigations relating  to  the  form  and  subjects  of  Baptism,  in  view 
of  the  unhappy  consequences  to  which  they  might  lead,  he  re- 


JUDSON    CENTENNIAL.  17 

plied  that  "  his  duty  compelled  him  to  satisfy  his  own  mind, 
and  to  embrace  those  sentiments  which  appeared  most  concord- 
ant with  scripture."  Whatever  we  may  think  respecting  the 
soundness  of  the  conclusions  which  he  reached,  no  one  can  doubt 
the  bitter  trial  he  experienced,  at  a  time  when  tolerance  of  his 
new  views  was  immeasurably  less  than  it  is  to-day,  in  severing 
his  connection  with  the  church  of  his  father  and  family,  with  all 
his  friends  and  co-laborers  in  the  new  missionary  enterprise,  with 
the  Board  he  had  helped  to  organize,  and  in  forfeiting,  to  all 
human  appearance,  the  prospect  of  support  in  his  chosen  work. 
A  less  courageous  man,  a  man  of  a  less  uncompromising  sense 
of  duty,  might  have  felt  satisfied  in  stifling  the  convictions  of 
conscience,  as  many  have  done  since  his  day  in  respect  to  doc- 
trines more  vital  than  that  of  baptism.  But  he  gladly  bore  the 
heavy  and  most  unenviable  cross  involved  in  separation  from 
all  whom  he  had  loved,  trusted  and  honored  in  his  previous  life, 
and  from  all  his  fondly  cherished  hopes  born  of  human  relation- 
ships and  associations.  For  we  must  remember  that  his  embar- 
rassment arose,  not  only  from  the  ties  which  he  severed,  but 
also  from  the  repulsions  he  would  have  to  overcome.  Mrs. 
Judson,  in  the  account  she  gave  of  the  change,  did  not  conceal 
the  aversion  she  had  long  felt  to  the  followers  of  the  newly 
accepted  faith,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Mr.  Jud- 
son's  traditional  prejudice  was  less  than  hers.  In  fact,  it  is 
impossible  for  us,  in  these  times  of  better  acquaintance  and 
larger  charity,  to  understand  the  mutual  antipathies  which  the 
Congregationalists  and  Baptists  of  those  days  entertained  toward 
each  other.  It  must  have  been  a  sore  trial  to  bear  the  reproach 
of  desertion  from  the  old  to  the  new  and  despised  fold.  Noth- 
ing less  than  the  bond  of  duty  could  have  held  the  young  mis- 
sionary to  such  a  sacrifice, 

And  then  see  how  this  motive  influenced  his  course  in  the 
face  of  the  opposition,  and  even  persecution,  instituted  by  the 
East  India  government.  Fixed  in  the  purpose  to  do  the  will  of 
God,  he  became  clear-sighted  in  respect  to  his  providential  way. 
He  was  sure  that  way  did  not  lead  to  London,  where  the  author- 
ities tried  to  send  him.  He  thought  of  the  Dutch  East  India 
Islands  as  a  place  of  rest  and  a  field  of  labor,  but  never  for  a 
moment  of  turning  back.     Naturally  gifted  with  remarkable 


18  J  UDSON    CENTENNIAL. 

insight,  he  was  quick  to  find  the  heart  of  any  problem  which 
rose  in  his  path.  He  would  temporize,  he  would  wait,  he  would 
hide  himself  for  a  little  time,  and  bide  the  solution  of  events. 
He  had  come  forth  on  no  holiday  excursion ;  there  was  no 
touch  of  adventure  or  romance  in  his  mind :  he  knew  whom  he 
had  believed  and  followed,  and  that  the  hand  which  had  led 
him  so  far  would  still  guide  and  keep  him.  The  present  hori- 
zon was  very  narrow,  but  around  him  and  within  him  was  the 
light  which  shows  the  way,  and  cheers  the  heart  of  the  man 
whose  chief  aim  and  watchword  is  Duty.  And  so  he  went  from 
point  to  point  to  escape  arrest,  until  he  was  providentially  thrust 
into  Burma.  This  event  was  to  him  the  solution  of  the  ques- 
tion as  to  where  the  Lord  would  have  him  go,  and  what  he 
would  have  him  do.  Many  men  would  have  settled  the  prob- 
lem long  before  he  did,  by  retreat  and  abandonment  of  the 
enterprise ;  but  his  vision  was  too  clear,  and  his  purpose  was 
too  high,  for  that,  and  so  he  went  right  on  till  the  goal  was 
reached,  and  his  outward  environment  answered  to  the  divine 
foreordination  that  was  in  him. 

The  field  which  he  reached  at  length,  in  a  manner  so  mys- 
terious, had  been  partially  occupied  in  succession  by  two  Eng- 
lish Missionary  Societies,  the  Baptist  and  the  London  ;  but  little 
trace  of  their  work  was  left  behind  them.  He  was  obliged  to 
begin  the  mastery  of  the  language  without  any  reliable  help.  In 
the  great  work  of  preparation  for  his  mission  was  displayed 
another  remarkable  quality  on  which  his  success  so  largely 
depended,  namely :  his  unrelaxing  persistency  of  purpose.  The 
long  and  patient  drill  which  he  took  in  the  structural  forms 
and  tonal  modifications  of  a  most  difficult  language,  the  careful 
arrangement  of  its  grammatical  inflections,  and  the  production 
of  grammars  and  vocabularies,  constituted  his  first  work.  Then 
he  made  himself  acquainted  with  the  literature,  including  the 
sacred  books  of  the  people,  to  a  degree  that  no  one  has  since 
equalled.  Then  he  investigated  the  natural  history,  the  vege- 
table productions,  the  mineral  riches  and  the  qualities  of  the 
soil.  He  omitted  nothing  that  could  contribute  to  the  fullest 
preparation  for  the  translation  of  the  sacred  scriptures  into  the 
language  of  the  people.  All  this  work  was  done  for  this  single 
and  holy  end.     When  he  was  asked  to  arrange  his  vast  collec- 


JUDSON     CKNTKXMAL.  19 

tion  of  materials  for  publication  in  the  interests  of  science,  he 
refused  to  entertain  the  proposition,  and  even  objected  to  Mrs. 
Judson's  devoting  any  portion  of  her  time  for  the  purpose, 
though  large  remuneration  awaited  the  work.  He  was  a  man 
of  one  idea  and  one  work.  He  was  ready  to  undertake  any 
service,  however  difficult,  which  tended  to  forward  his  great 
aim,  while  he  steadily  refused  to  take  any  place,  or  engage  in 
any  labor  which  diverged  from  the  exact  line  of  missionary  ser- 
vice. He  could  say,  with  Paul,  "  This  one  thing  I  do."  And 
he  did  his  work  so  well  as  to  secure  the  commendation  of  all 
competent  judges,  because  he  never  relaxed  his  grip  of  it,  or 
allowed  his  time  or  strength  to  be  diverted  into  other  channels. 

During  these  stages  of  preparatory  study,  he  maintained 
daily  preaching  in  his  house  or  in  zayats  to  those  whom  he  could 
induce  to  hear  him.  As  soon  as  he  was  able  to  write  the  lan- 
guage, he  prepared  tracts,  setting  forth  the  truths  of  Christian- 
ity in  a  familiar  way,  made  translations  of  portions  of  the  New 
Testament,  and  thus  in  season  and  out  of  season  scattered  the 
living  seed  by  the  wayside,  or  spoke  to  the  people  the  word  of 
life.  He  found  many  listeners,  but  few  inquirers,  during  the 
early  years  of  his  residence  in  Burma.  But  his  persistency 
never  gave  way ;  he  continued  to  give  out  line  upon  line,  pre- 
cept upon  precept,  here  a  little  and  there  a  little,  in  never-ceas- 
ing streams  of  utterance.  Some  of  the  friends  in  this  country 
became  anxious  because  no  conversions  were  reported  ;  but  he 
pointed  them  to  the  promise  of  God,  and  worked  on,  and  waited 
six  years  to  see  his  first  convert  put  on  Christ  by  baptism.  This 
confidence  in  God,  and  in  the  result  of  labor  done  in  His  name, 
rises  to  the  pitch  of  sublimity.  What  a  picture  this  calm,  plod- 
ding, patient,  ever-watchful,  ever-active  Christian  worker  pre- 
sents, sitting  amid  the  unbroken  night,  the  unrelieved  dreari- 
ness of  heathenism,  sustained  by  the  unshaken  assurance  that 
having  sown  in  tears,  he  would  reap  in  joy.  And  the  promise 
of  God  did  not  fail. 

Soon  the  work  of  translating  the  scriptures,  for  which  he 
had  made  such  ample  and  conscientious  preparation,  became 
the  chief  work  of  his  life.  Few  men  of  modern  times  have 
begun  this  vastly  important  work  with  such  thorough  qualifica- 
tion as  respects  natural  endowment  and  special  culture.     Line 


20  JUDSON    CENTENNIAL. 

by  line  and  word  by  word  he  went  through  the  original  text, 
seeking  to  convey  to  his  Burman  readers  the  exact  meaning  of 
the  Spirit,  till  on  the  last  day  of  January,  1834,  he  completed 
his  most  responsible  and  exacting  task,  and  holding  the  last  leaf 
in  his  hand,  exclaimed :  "  Thank  God,  I  can  now  say  I  have  at- 
tained." I  seem  to  see  the  man  of  God  bowing  his  knees  beside 
the  rude  table  on  which  he  has  wrought  during  seventeen  toil- 
some and  anxious  years,  with  the  last  leaf  of  the  Burman  Bible 
still  moist  with  the  traces  of  the  well-worn  pen,  beseeching  God 
to  pardon  the  errors  of  his  work,  and  make  it  '•^  the  grand  instru- 
ment of  filling  all  Burma  with  songs  of  praise  to  our  great  God 
and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ."  Three  times  he  reviewed  and  re. 
vised  his  work.  He  states  that  the  third  and  last  revision,  made 
as  the  result  of  light  acquired  through  the  studies  connected 
with  his  Burman  dictionary,  cost  him  as  much  labor  as  the 
original  translation. 

The  last  work  which  engrossed  his  thought  and  time  was  his 
great  Burman-English  and  English-Burman  Dictionary.  He 
was  loth  to  begin  it ;  he  longed  to  preach  the  word  which  he 
had  transferred  to  the  Burman  language,  in  public  places  to  the 
people.  It  was  for  this  that  he  had  gone  to  the  heathen,  and 
he  desired  most  of  all  to  preach  Christ  to  the  perishing  as  the 
Way,  the  Truth  and  the  Life.  But  his  failing  voice  paved  the 
way  for  the  conviction  that,  after  all,  God  might  have  chosen 
him  for  the  work  of  the  study  and  the  closet,  instead  of  the 
open  ways  of  life.  Accordingly  he  entered  on  the  work,  and  in 
1843,  on  the  twenty-ninth  anniversary  of  his  landing  in  Burma, 
he  writes  :  "•  Notwithstanding  my  long-cherished  aversion  to  the 
work,  I  have  come  to  think  it  very  important.  Having  seen 
the  accomplishment  of  two  objects  on  which  I  had  set  my  heart 
when  I  first  came  out  to  the  East, —  the  establishment  of  a 
church  of  converted  natives,  and  the  translation  of  the  Bible 
into  their  language, —  I  now  beguile  my  daily  toil  with  the  pros- 
pect of  compassing  a  third,  designed  to  facilitate  the  transmis- 
sion of  all  knowledge,  religious  and  scientific,  from  one  people 
to  the  other." 

But  the  work  was  destined  to  a  partial  interruption.  In 
April,  1845,  he  was  obliged  to  sail  with  Mrs.  Judson  and  three 
of  their  children  for  America,  after  a  continued  residence  in  a 


JtJDSOK  CENTENNIAL.  21 

tropical  climate  of  nearly  thirty-three  years.  He  had  often  been 
urged  by  the  society,  and  by  missionaries,  to  take  a  home  vaca- 
tion, but  he  had  steadily  declined  to  do  so,  till  the  failing  health 
of  Mrs.  Judson  made  a  change  imperative.  But  he  took  two 
native  writers  with  him,  and  during  the  voyage,  as  well  as  the 
greater  part  of  his  sojourn  in  this  country,  the  work  was  stead- 
ily advanced. 

Who  that  has  lingered  over  the  heroic  and  touching  story 
of  our  missions  has  not  heard  of  the  incidents  of  this  passage  ? 
The  partial  recovery  of  Mrs.  Judson,  and  the  arrangement  for 
her  to  pursue  the  voyage  with  the  three  children  from  the  Isle 
of  France,  while  the  husband  and  father  was  to  return  to  Bur- 
ma; the  sudden  relapse  which  overtook  the  wife,  and  her  death 
and  burial  on  the  rock  of  St.  Helena,  and  the  lonely  journey  of 
the  bereaved  husband  with  his  motherless  children  to  this  coun- 
try, constitute  one  of  the  most  pathetic  passages  in  the  check- 
ered life  of  the  great  missionary. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  on  the  sojourn  of  Dr.  Judson  in 
this  country.  It  is  well  known  that  he  was  ill  at  ease,  and 
longed  to  be  gone  from  scenes  which  distracted  his  mind  from 
the  work  that  had  now  become  engrossing.  The  country  was 
strange  to  him  after  an  absence  of  nearly  a  generation,  the  men 
whom  he  met  were  personally  strangers  to  him  ;  even  those  with 
whom  he  had  corresponded  during  the  early  clays  of  his  resi- 
dence in  the  East  had  gone  to  their  rest,  while  few  of  those  con- 
nected with  the  American  Board  when  he  sailed  from  Salem 
were  alive ;  he  was  somewhat  averse  to  public  meetings,  in 
which  he  could  take  no  part  on  account  of  the  weakness  of  his 
voice ;  the  strain  of  eulogy  and  laudation,  which  was  so  com- 
mon in  all  references  to  him  and  his  work,  was  distasteful  to 
him ;  he  was  not  as  free  as  he  wished,  to  push  on  the  work  of 
the  dictionary,  and  he  was  eager  to  complete  his  arrangements 
for  the  care  of  his  children,  and  go  back  to  the  country  of  his 
choice  and  the  scenes  hallowed  by  trial,  suffering  and  holy  com- 
panionship, that  he  might  finish  the  work  which  could  be  done 
better  in  Burxna  than  anywhere  else. 

I  need  not  relate  the  story  of  his  marriage  to  the  gifted  lady 
whose  genius  was  exalted  and  refined  by  her  association  with 
him.     She  commemorated  him  as  her  "Angel  Guide  "  in  one  of 


22  JtTDSON   CENTENNIAL. 

the  sweetest  domestic  poems  in  the  English  language,  and  also 
contributed  some  of  the  most  valuable  personal  notices  of  his 
character,  opinions  and  work  which  enrich  the  pages  of  the  biog- 
raphies of  President  Wayland,  and  of  his  son,  Dr.  Edward  Jud- 
son.  Nor  need  I  dwell  longer  on  the  brief  years  spent  in  suf- 
fering and  toil,  after  the  return  to  Burma.  The  wiry  frame 
was  losing  its  tension,  the  step  was  becoming  unsteady,  the 
strength  of  former  years  was  wasted,  but  he  would  not  rest,  and 
he  could  not  die  till  the  great  work  was  in  such  a  state  of  for- 
wardness that  his  death  could  not  diminish  its  value.  And  so 
he  worked  early  and  late,  until  the  spring  of  1850  saw  the  dic- 
tionary practically  completed.  Alas  for  us  that  his  life  and  his 
work  were  destined  to  close  together !  He  consented  to  take  a 
sea  voyage  in  the  hope  of  recruiting  his  wasted  energies,  but 
they  were  too  far  spent.  The  light  flickered  faintly  in  the 
socket,  and  finally,  on  the  12th  of  April,  went  out.  So  he  liter- 
ally died  at  his  post,  with  the  harness  on.  He  died  compara- 
tively young,  but  if  the  poet  was  right  when  he  said, 

"  That  life  is  long  which  answers  life's  great  end," 

his  brief  stage  expands  into  immortality.  He  went  to  the  East 
to  found  a  church  of  converted  natives,  and  to  translate  the 
Bible  into  their  language.  The  church  that  he  founded  abides 
on  the  Rock  of  Ages,  and  the  Word  which  he  translated  for  its 
direction,  upbuilding  and  sanctification,  liveth  and  abideth  for- 
ever. 

Most  impressively  are  we  reminded,  by  the  career  of  Ado- 
niram  Johnson,  how  great  a  thing  a  human  life  may  be  when 
consecrated  to  duty ;  how  lofty  in  aim,  how  grand  in  action, 
how  heroic  in  endurance,  and  how  wide  and  high  and  beneficent 
in  results.  What  monument  does  he  need  ?  His  deeds  will 
keep  his  memory  fresh  through  all  coming  generations.  Judson 
reared  his  own  fittest  memorial,  of  material  more  enduring  than 
marble.  No  words  of  eulogy  can  add  to  the  measure  of  his 
fame,  which  will  grow  with  the  lapse  of  years,  while  the  results 
of  his  work  will  go  on  augmenting  to  proportions  which  only 
eternity  can  disclose. 


RKMARKS    BY   N.    O.  CLARIv,    IJ.    D., 
Foreign  Secretary  of  the  "  American  Board." 


As  it  was  impossible,  as  he  was  from  home,  to  get  from  Dr. 
Clark  a  written  form  for  his  interesting  and  impressive  re- 
marks, we  insert  the  report  made  of  them  by  The  Examiner,  of 
New  York : 

''Dr.  Clark  was  called  upon  to  speak  forthe  Congregational- 
ists,  and  said  it  was  very  fitting  he  should  do  so,  as,  but  for  his 
people,  the  Baptists  might  never  have  had  Judson,  and  might 
have  been  much  slower  in  entering  upon  missionary  work.  He 
claimed  Judson  for  the  whole  world,  as  belonging  to  the  best 
Christian  sentiment  of  mankind.  The  world  looks  to  him  as  an 
example  of  remarkably  fine  talent,  of  high,  true  spirit, —  such 
an  example  as  they  wanted  to  hold  up  to  the  young  men  of  their 
seminaries.  He  believed  Judson  one  of  the  finest  illustrations 
of  the  plan  of  God,  in  raising  up  peculiar  men  for  a  peculiar 
work.  He  would  like  to  see  a  memorial  in  a  hundred  of  the 
finest  young  men  gathered  from  the  institutions  of  learning, 
who  should  c'v.secrate  themselves  to  such  a  life  of  self-sacrifice 
as  Judson's." 


ADDRESS 


ANDREW  PEABODY,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


NEVER  saw  Dr.  Judson,  and  yet  I  feel  as  if  I  had  known 
him  intimately.  His  was  liitle  more  than  a  vaguely  hon- 
ored name,  when  I  undertook  to  write  a  review  of  "  Gam- 
m ell's  History  of  Baptist  Missions."  I  subsequently  performed 
the  same  oftice  for  Wayland's  "  Life  of  Judson."  In  these  books, 
and  through  every  source  of  information  that  has  been  opened 
to  me,  I  have  studied  the  life  and  character  of  Adoniram  Jud- 
son, and  in  the  entire  history  of  Christian  heroism,  I  can  recall 
no  other  name  which  I  should  be  so  ready  to  place  beside  that 
of  St.  Paul,  whom  I  regard  as  the  greatest  man  that  God  ever 
made,  and  as  having  been  empowered  for  his  special  work,  not 
by  his  Christlikeness  alone,  but  by  the  capacities  and  endow- 
ments that  would  have  made  him  pre-eminent  in  any  place  or 
sphere.  Judson  seems  to  have  been  arrested  on  the  way,  as  Paul 
was,  by  a  call  as  truly  divine  as  was  the  miraculous  vision  that 
made  the  persecutor  an  apostle  of  the  faith  which  he  "  once  de- 
stroyed." As  I  read  the  record  of  Judson's  early  life,  I  cannot 
doubt  that  he  might  have  reached  the  summit  of  his  ambition 
at  the  bar,  in  the  senate,  or  in  high  official  rank,  and  have  won 
a  wreath,  brilliant  and  long-enduring,  though  not  unfading,  of 
such  honor  as  the  world  can  give,  had  there  not  been  held  before 
him,  by  his  Saviour,  the  crown  of  eternal  glory  awarded  to  those 
who  fight,  endure  and  conquer  in  his  name. 

The  record  of  Dr.  Judson's  labors,  suiferings  and  achieve- 
ments shows  that  there  is  nothing  which  a  man   has  or  is  that 


JtTDSOK    CENTENNIAL.  25 

may  not  be  fully  utilized  in  his  life-work.  Of  that  life-work, 
saying  and  doing  are  the  smallest  part.  They  are  a  multipli- 
cand of  no  great  integral  value,  of  which  the  aggregate  of  mind, 
heart  and  soul  that  is  put  into  them  is  the  far  greater  multi- 
plier, and  determines  both  the  quality  and  the  quantity  of  the 
product.  As  God  so  enshrines  himself  in  his  creation  and  prov- 
idence that,  with  the  inward  eye  fully  opened,  we  should  see 
englobed  in  the  leaf-bud  or  the  grass-blade  the  very  same  attri- 
butes that  are  revealed  in  the  order  of  the  heavens  and  the 
march  of  worlds,  so  the  true  man  of  God  puts  his  entire  self- 
hood into  whatever  department  of  service  may  be  assigned  to 
him, —  and  he  can  put  no  more.  This  is  signally  true  in  the 
missionary  field,  in  which  feeble,  meagre,  narrow  piety,  however 
sincere,  is  a  hindrance,  not  a  help.  If  the  world  is  to  be  evan- 
gelized, and  prophecy  made  liberty,  it  must  be  by  the  consecra- 
tion of  men  of  strong  minds,  rich  souls,  large  hearts, —  of  those 
to  whom  the  five  talents  are  given  at  the  outset,  and  who  have 
the  intensity  of  faith,  of  love  and  of  will-power  that  can  make 
the  five  ten,  and  the  ten  twenty.  I  want,  therefore,  to  have 
Dr.  Judson  commemorated,  not  merely  as  among  the  foremost 
in  labor,  hardship  and  tribulation  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  but  as 
a  man  who,  with  as  consummate  self-sacrifice  as  the  world  has 
ever  witnessed,  devoted  to  that  cause  a  vigor  of  intellect,  a 
tenacity  of  purpose,  a  range  and  compass  of  ability,  a  power  of 
influence,  in  which,  within  the  century  since  he  was  born,  he  has 
had  few  equals,  and  no  superior. 

My  friends,  you  honor  yourselves  in  thus  honoring  the  bless- 
ed memory  of  this  man :  and  God  grant  that  your  tribute  of 
gratitude  and  love  to  him  may  awaken  a  more  fervent  zeal,  and 
a  more  efficient  energy  in  the  work  for  which  Christ  lived  and 
died,  and  ever  lives. 


POWER     OK     PERSONALITY. 


Written  for  the  Judson  Centennial  at   Maiden, 

BY 

John  W.  Olmstead,  d.  d. 


'T  the  close  of  President  Wayland's  "Memoir  of  Ado- 
niram  Judson,"  second  volume  (page  403-4),  it  is  expres- 
sively said: 

''  When  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  shall  become  the  king- 
doms of  the  Lord,  and  of  His  Christ;  when  every  pagoda  shall 
have  been  levelled,  and  every  hilltop,  from  the  Bay  of  Bengal 
to  the  foot  of  the  Himalaya,  shall  be  crowned  with  a  temple  to 
Jehovah;  when  the  landscape  shall  be  thickly  studded  with 
schools,  scattering  broadcast  the  seeds  of  human  knowledge  ; 
when  law  shall  have  spread  the  shield  of  its  protection  over  the 
most  lowly  and  the  most  exalted ;  when  civil  and  religious  lib- 
erty shall  be  the  birthright  of  every  Burman, — then  will  the 
spot  where  stood  the  prison  at  Oung-pen-la  be  consecrated 
ground ;  thither  will  pilgrims  resort  to  do  honor  to  the  name 
of  their  benefactor ;  and  mothers,  as  they  teach  their  children 
to  pray  to  the  eternal  God,  will  remind  them  of  the  atheism  of 
their  forefathers,  and  repeat  to  them  the  story  of  the  life  and 
labors  of  Adoniram  Judson.  Such  honor  doth  God  bestow 
upon  holy,  humble,  self-denying  and  long-suffering  love." 

Mrs.  Emily  C.  Judson,  who  survived  all  too  briefly  the  de- 
mise of  her  illustrious  husband,  was  not  with  him  when  he  died 
and  was  buried  at  sea,  April  12,  1850,  thirty-eight  years  and 
more  since.  But  in  memorable  words  she  says,  speaking  of  the 
attendants  on  that  occasion,  and  of  the  scene  :  "•  They  lowered 
him  to  his  ocean  grave,  and  there  they  left  him  in  his  unquiet 
sepulchre.  *  *  *  Neither  could  he  have  had  a  more  fitting  monu- 
ment than  the  blue  waves  which  visit  every  coast,  for  his  warm 
sympathies  went  forth   to   the  ends  of  the  earth,  and   included 


JtJDSOK    CEKTENNIAL.  27 

the  whole  family  of  man."  That  was,  indeed,  a  gracious  as 
beautiful  conception,  of  a  mind  at  once  pious  and  poetic.  The 
"blue  waves  which  visit  every  coast  "  are  truly  but  the  appro- 
priate emblem  of  the  great  personality  that  we  find  enfolded  in 
the  character  and  the  career  of  Adoniram  Judson.  Think  of 
him  at  the  age  of  but  twenty-five  years,  enlisting  in  the,  at  the 
time,  disbelieved  in,  nay,  the  scoffed  at,  enterprise  of  making 
known  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  to  the  teeming  yet  dark- 
ened millions  of  South-eastern  Asia.  Think  of  him  with  his 
sainted  young  wife,  Ann  Haseltine,  and  his  coadjutors,  Nott  and 
Rice,  embarking  in  such  an  undertaking  as  this, —  to  plant 
Christian  evangelizing  missions  among  tribes  and  peoples  dwell- 
ing in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death ;  far  less  civilized  and 
less  humanized  than  they  are  to-day,  even, —  the  very  alphabet 
of  whose  difficult  language  it  was  indispensable  to  acquire,  as  a 
first  preliminary  to  any  successful  labor  on  their  behalf.  Con- 
sider that  this  enterprise,  counted  by  so  many  in  Christendom 
as  but  visionary  and  chimerical,  was  a  movement  to  bring  to 
these  benighted  ones  not  only  a  new  religion,  supplanting  and 
overthrowing  idolatries  and  superstitions  hoary  with  age,  but 
one  to  carry  to  them  as  well,  in  modes  of  life  and  of  living,  a 
wholly  novel  civilization.  Think  of  this  modern  Apostle  to  the 
Gentile  Pagan  world  achieving  what  he  did  so  signally  achieve 
in  thirty-five  years  of  most  active  and  exhausting  toil,  both  as 
preacher  and  as  translator  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures, —  the  com- 
pleted Bible  rendered  into  the  dialect  of  Burma  being  his  crown- 
ing accomplishment, —  passing  away  to  take  his  crown  at  the 
age  of  but  sixty-two  years,  and  you  must  needs  exclaim,  in  this 
most  comprehensive  summary  of  the  achievements  of  this  one 
great  leader  in  the  conquering  army  of  Christ,  "  What  hath 
God  wrought  ! " 

The  power  of  great  deeds  in  great  men  we  see  illustrated  as 
well  in  modern  as  in  ancient  history,  in  such  as  Washington, 
and  in  our  own  times,  of  Lincoln  and  of  Gladstone ;  this  in  the 
walks  of  statesmanship  and  of  patriotism.  Dr.  Judson  projected 
his  ideal  of  achievement  for  mankind  along  other  lines  than 
these  of  the  great  ones  of  earth.  Allying  himself,  first  of  all,  to 
the  cause  of  his  and  of  our  Lord  Christ,  he  put  his  whole  con- 
secrated energies  upon  this  one  altar  of  self-sacrifice.     Tt  was  to 


28  JUDSON    CENTENNIAL. 

gather  gems  for  the  Redeemer's  crown  from  among  the  sin- 
cursed  millions  of  the  far  Orient,  that,  like  his  Divine  Master 
and  Saviour,  he  literally  and  without  reservation  "  gave  him- 
self." It  was  "  a  whole  burnt  offering,"  the  incense  of  which  is 
in  our  hearts  to-day.  The  results  of  the  consecration  who  shall 
compute, —  the  ripened  fruitage  of  this  one  great  personality, — 

"  In  souls  renewed  and  sins  forgiven  ;  " 

of  a  multitude  in  the  past,  and  of  a  far  greater  multitude  in  the 
future,  as  the  distant  East  shall  blend  with  the  farthest  West, 
as  the  North  and  the  South  alike  shall  swell  the  ransomed  host 
of  the  whole  earth,  at  last  regenerated  and  redeemed?  For 
"  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it^ 

Those  who  are  gathered  in  this  old  historic  town  of  Maiden, 
where,  on  the  9th  day  of  August,  1788,  the  subject  of  our  pass- 
ing commemoration  had  his  birth,  are  drawn  together  to  pay 
their  due  tribute  to  the  memory  of  one  eminent  personality. 
We  remember,  with  reverent  gratitude  to  God,  that  it  is  now 
just  one  hundred  years  since  Adoniram  Judson  was  born. 
Though  he  gave  but  little  more  than  a  third  of  a  century  to  the 
grandest  life-work  of  which  man  or  angel  could  conceive,  what 
an  achievement  for  God  and  for  his  race  did  this  one  man  accom- 
plish !  It  all  came  as  the  fruit  of  being  girded  throughout  his 
"  earthly  mission  "  with  the  high  resolve  of  another  great  mis- 
sionary, '•'■This  one  thing  I  do.''  What  an  example  and  illustra- 
tion of  the  possibilities  of  one  sacrificial  Christian  life,  educated, 
disciplined,  animated  and  directed  under  the  propelling  power 
of  but  one  single  dominating  ambition  and  end.  Dr.  Judson's 
monument  stands  before  us  all,  full  well  revealed  to-day.  He 
needs,  for  the  "everlasting  remembrance"  in  which  he  must 
forevermore  live,  no  sculptured  marble,  wrought  out  under  the 
design  and  the  skill  of  the  most  cunning  artificer.  Before  a 
second  century  shall  have  ended  since  he  was  born,  the  long 
ago  prophecy  must  reach  its  fulfilment  of  Ethiopia,  of  India,  of 
China,  of  the  islands  of  all  seas,  stretching  forth  their  hands 
unto  God.  Dr.  Adoniram  Judson's  enduring  monument  is  in 
this  transfigured  consummation,  toward  the  coming  and  toward 
the  perfection  of  which  he  bore  such  a  part. 


ADDRESS 

OF 

Edward    O.     Stevens, 
At  the  Judson  Centennial  Celebration  at  Maiden,   Mass., 
THURSDAY,  AUGUST  9th,  1888. 


Men.,  Brethren.,  and  Fathers  : 

'WENTY-FOUR  years  ago,  I  appeared  for  the  first  time 
on  the  same  platform  with  Dr.  Dean,  the  venerable  gen- 
X  tleraan  at  my  left.  I  never  expected  then  to  sit  again  on 
the  same  platform  with  this  veteran  missionary.  I  could  wish 
that  he  might  have  been  called  upon  to  speak  before  me,  for  he 
would  be  able  to  tell  you  of  his  remembrance  of  things  in  the 
life  of  Adoniram  Judson,  which  happened  before  I  was  born. 
However,  I  will  endeavor  to  perform  the  part  assigned  to  me  on 
this  occasion. 

I  am  requested  to  tell  you  something  as  to  my  recollections 
of  Dr.  Judson.  Many  reminiscences  of  him  in  Burma  crowd  in 
upon  my  mind  at  this  moment.  I  should  be  glad  to  describe 
the  auditorium  of  the  old  Maulmain  Burman  chapel,  where  I 
used  to  hear  him  preach  in  Burmese.  I  could  tell  of  the  vestry 
of  that  same  chapel,  where  I  heard  his  fervent  prayers  in  the 
English  language  at  the  missionary  concert  at  sunrise,  on  the 
first  Monday  morning  of  the  month  in  1844,  and  where,  four 
years  later,  he  conducted  a  children's  meeting,  while  our  mothers 
were  assembled  for  prayer  in  the  mission-house  near  by.  But 
five  minutes  will  afford  time  for  me  to  speak  of  only  one  inci- 
dent. 


30  JUDSON   CENTENNIAL. 

It  was  the  month  of  April,  1850.  A  feeling  of  sadness 
seemed  to  pervade  everything  in  the  Maulmain  mission.  Dr. 
Judson's  illness  had  been  so  protracted,  the  case  had  become  so 
serious,  that  few  entertained  any  hopes  of  his  recovery.  But  so 
long  as  there  existed  a  bare  chance  of  his  being  benefited  by  a 
sea  voyage,  he  was  anxious  to  try  it.  Thus  on  Wednesday, 
April  30,  he  was  carried  in  a  palanquin  on  board  of  the  French 
barque,  "-Aristide  Marie,'*  bound  for  the  island  of  Bourbon. 

But  much  difficulty  was  experienced  in  getting  out  to  sea. 
No  steamer  was  available  for  towage,  and  the  north-east  mon- 
soon had  nearly  died  away,  so  that  five  days  were  occupied  in 
doing  what,  in  favorable  circumstances  might  have  been  accom- 
plished in  a  few  hours.  Mrs.  Judson,  learning  of  this  detention, 
twice  dropped  down  in  a  row-boat  to  see  him.  As  I  remember 
it,  she  was  accompanied  by  my  mother.  Once,  as  a  special  fa- 
vor, I  was  permitted  to  go  too.  On  that  occasion,  the  two  ladies 
were  escorted  by  Rev.  Lyman  Stilson.  This  was  probably  Sat- 
urday, April  6th. 

As  I  was  a  boy,  only  about  eleven  years  of  age,  I  was  made 
to  feel  that  I  must  be  careful  not  to  make  a  noise  or  be  in  the 
way.  Hence  I  kept  mj'^self  on  the  poop-deck,  seeking  a  cool 
place,  for  the  weather  was  extremely  hot,  and  scarcely  a  breath 
of  air  was  stirring.  Leaning  over  the  bulwarks,  1  watched  the 
eddies  in  the  dark  waters  in  the  Maulmain  River,  as  the  tide 
swept  by  on  its  way  to  the  Gulf  of  Martaban.  I  looked  for 
some  object  of  interest  on  the  banks,  but  they  were  low  and 
swampy,  and  to  the  water's  edge  covered  with  a  dense  jungle 
of  wild  ratan  and  the  nipa  palm.  As  the  Captain  and  seamen 
were  French,  I  found  no  one  in  the  ship's  crew  with  whom  I 
could  converse. 

"All  the  air  a  solemn  stillness  held." 

There  seemed  to  be  nothing  to  relieve  the  sense  of  oppression 
which  weighed  down  my  spirits  at  the  thought  that  probably  I 
should  never  see  Dr.  Judson  again. 

After  dinner,  Mr.  Stilson  called  to  me  in  an  undertone,  say- 
ing, "  Come,  Eddie,  it  is  nearly  time  for  us  to  return.  Go  down, 
now,  and  say  good-by  to  Dr.  Judson."     I  obeyed,  and  stepping 


JUDSON    CENTENNIAL.  31 

softly,  ventured  within  the  doors  of  the  cabin  to  take  a  last 
look  of  one  whom  I  had  always  been  taught  to  love  and  revere. 
There  he  lay,  his  thin  hair  brushed  back  from  his  ample  fore- 
head ;  his  face  wore  a  sallow,  distressed  look, —  in  short,  lie 
appeared  to  be  very  ill.  Mrs.  Judson  was  sitting  by  in  a  chair, 
fanning  him.  Observing  some  one  enter,  he  turned  his  eyes 
toward  me,  and  languidly  extending  his  right  arm,  gently  took 
ray  hand  in  his.  "•  Well,  Eddie,"  was  all  he  could  say  before  I 
turned  away  to  hide  my  grief. 

Perhaps  his  memory  reverted  to  the  day  when  he  first  saw 
me,  an  infant  in  ray  raother's  arms ;  to  the  hour  when,  at  the 
request  of  my  parents,  in  the  old  Hancock  house  in  Maulmain 
(where  he  himself  subsequently  lived),  he  offered  the  prayer  by 
which  I  was  solemnly  dedicated  to  God.  But  if  he  did  recollect 
it,  the  pain  with  which  he  was  tortured  was  so  severe  that  his 
mind  could  not  dwell  long  on  any  one  thing.  It  appears  that 
even  to  Mrs.  Judson,  in  that  last  sad  hour  of  parting,  he  was 
able  to  say  very  little. 

It  was  not  necessary  that  he  should  give  me  a  dying  charge, 
to  live  in  a  manner  consistent  with  the  profession  which  I  had 
made  nearly  eighteen  months  before.  His  life  of  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  Christian  missions  had  already  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion on  my  young  heart.  There  it  was  inscribed  in  indelible 
characters,  that  it  was  the  sufferings  which  he  had  endured  in 
the  death-prison  at  Ava,  and  in  the  lion's  cage  at  Oung-pen-la, 
that  had  finally  broken  him  down,  and  made  him  prematurely 
old,  at  the  age  of  sixty-one.  I  well  knew  that  the  scars  of  the 
five  pairs  of  fetters  he  had  worn,  when  subjected  to  the  cruelty 
of  the  Burman  jailers,  were  still  to  be  seen  on  his  now  weak  and 
swollen  ankles. 

Adoniram  Judson  has  had  more  influence  under  God  in 
moulding  my  character  and  determining  my  life-work,  than  any 
other  man,  except  my  own  dear  father  of  blessed  memory.  By 
means  of  this  influence,  "  he  still  lives,"  "  By  it,  he  being  dead 
yet  speaketh."  It  may  be  that  few,  if  any  of  us  could  equal 
him  in  mental  acumen,  or  in  the  ability  to  master  a  foreign 
tongue.  But  is  it  not  the  privilege  of  every  one  of  us  to  be  as 
faithful  and  as  enthusiastic  as  was  he,  in  the  discharge  of  duties 
to  God  and  our  fellow-men  ? 


32  JUDSON   CENTENNIAL. 

The  Christians  connected  with  our  missions  in  Burma  are 
not  content  to  say,  "  We  and  the  Burman  Bible  are  Teacher 
Judson's  monument."  They  desire  that  a  church  edifice  may 
be  erected  at  Mandalay  to  his  memory.  Dr.  Murdock,  the  Cor- 
responding Secretary,  is  of  the  opinion  that  $10,000  will  be  re- 
quired for  such  a  memorial  building.  One  Burman  Christian 
widow,  baptized  by  Dr.  Judson  himself,  has  contributed  more 
than  one-tenth  of  this  amount.  We  would  that  the  sound  of  a 
bell  calling  to  worship  on  the  Lord's  Day  may  be  heard  in  the 
vicinity  of  those  prison-pens,  where  in  former  times  were  heard 
the  shrieks  of  men  under  torture,  or  the  roars  of  the  King's 
hungry  lion,  to  which  it  was  proposed  to  give  Judson  and  the 
other  white  captives  to  be  devoured. 

I  have  met  with  hundreds  in  America,  who  have  expressed 
the  wish  to  be  allowed  to  join  with  the  Burman  and  Karen 
Christians  in  putting  up  this  Memorial  Chapel  at  the  capital  of 
Upper  Burma.  We  have  just  heard  it  said  that  Adoniram  Jud- 
son belongs,  not  to  one  denomination  of  Christians  only,  but  to 
the  whole  world.  Let  all  the  world,  then,  have  a  share  in  con- 
tributing the  necessary  funds.  Thus  far,  none  have  given  in 
this  country,  except  Baptists  and  Episcopalians.  How  could 
we  more  fittingl}/  celebrate  this  day,  than  by  making  a  hand- 
some contribution  wherewith  to  reduce  the  amount  remaining 
to  be  raised  for  the  Judson  Centennial  Memorial  Chapel  at 
Mandalay  ?  * 


Note. —  In  the  evening  a  collection  for   the    Mandalay   Chapel   was   taken 
amounting  to  ^531. 


JUDSON'S      BIRTHPLACK. 


I.    H.    FARNHAM,    MALDEN. 


•.T. 


HE  Jiidson  house  is  situated  south-east  from  the  cen- 
tral business  portion  of  the  city,  on  the  main  street 
^  leading  from  Maiden  to  Everett  and  Boston.  The 
house  is  a  somewhat  old  style  two-story  structure,  back  from 
the  street,  with  pitched  roof,  two  huge  chimneys,  one  on  either 
side  of  the  hall  which  divides  the  house  centrally.  The  front 
view  is  as  pleasant  as  any,  showing  through  the  numerous  trees 
the  porch  and  front  door  in  the  centre,  two  windows  on  each 
side,  and  five  in  the  second  story.  The  roof  is  broken  in  its 
plainness  by  two  gothic  windows  and  the  substantial  chimneys. 
An  ell  extends  back  from  the  street,  and  is  not  seen  from  the 
front  gate.  The  yard  is  deep  and  wide,  and  contains  many 
large  and  smaller  trees.  There  are  huge  elms  and  evergreens, 
which  doubtless  were  growing  at  the  time  of  Judson's  birth. 
The  lawn  is  separated  from  the  street  by  a  substantial,  and 
rather  ornamental,  broken  stone  wall.  It  is  said  by  the  older 
inhabitants  of  the  neighborhood  that  little  or  no  change  has 
been  made  in  the  century  now  past.  The  farm  once  connected 
with  the  house,  however,  is  fast  being  cut  up  into  house  lots ; 
and  year  by  year  the  carpenter's  hammer  is  heard  approaching 
nearer  and  nearer  the  quiet,  restful  spot.  We  hope  no  rude 
hand  will  disturb,  for  many  years,  this  tangible  reminder  of  the 
great  man  and  his  noble  work. 

"In  the  valley  just  adjoining  the  house  on  the  south,  flour- 
ishes an  extensive  rose  culture,  owned  and  operated  by  the 
present  occupant  of  the  homestead,  which  supplies  the  markets 
in  Boston  with  rich  perfume  during  every  month  in   the  year. 


36  JUDSON     CENTENNIAL. 

Across  Main  street,  to  the  west,  rises  a  rocky  hill,  where,  in 
Maiden's  early  history,  was  suspended  from  huge  sheers  the 
church  bell.  The  hill  still  retains  the  name  Bell  Rock,  and  one 
of  the  seven  railroad  stations  of  Maiden  takes  its  name  from 
the  hill.  Just  south  of  the  hill  still  bubbles  up  a  natural  spring 
of  pure  water,  to  which  Judson's  tender  feet  used  often  to  stroll 
with  his  devoted  mother. 

"  It  is  not  assuming  too  much  to  say  that  such  a  beautiful 
home  and  surrounding  country  scenery,  with  the  spires  of  Bos- 
ton in  the  distance,  must  have  had  a  helpful  influence,  not  only 
directly  on  the  child  Judson,  but  indirectly  through  his  mother. 
Maiden,  as  a  city,  remembers  her  noted  son  by  naming  for  him 
a  street  and  a  square." 


li— 


JUDSON'S      LIXKRARY      LABORS. 


BY   L.   A.    W.    SMITH,    D.  D. 


N  contemplating  the  literary  remains  of  Dr.  Jiidson,  one  is 
easily  reminded  of  the  expression  on  Goldsmith's  tomb- 
stone : 

"  Nihil  tetigit  quod  non  ornavit." 
He  used  to  say  of  himself  that  one  of  his  failings  was  a  "  lust 
for  finishing;''  which  meant  for  him,  at  least  so  far  as  the  trans- 
lating of  the  Bible  was  concerned,  a  something  to  be  ever  pur- 
sued, and  never,  while  life  should  last,  overtaken.  The  edition 
of  the  Burmese  Bible  which  is  now  going  through  the  press  in 
Rangoon,  the  third  edition  of  the  whole  Bible,  contains  his 
last  emendations  of  the  Old  Testament, — only  just  now  finished 
at  the  end  of  nearly  forty  years  since  his  death,  and  yet  finished 
at  last.  "  He  rests  from  his  labors,  but  his  works  do  follow 
him." 

Dr.  Judson's  first  literary  effort  was  a  grammar  of  the  Bur- 
mese language  for  the  use  of  the  missionaries,  completed  in 
1816,  three  years  after  his  arrival  in  the  country,  but  not 
printed  until  1842 ;  waiting,  no  doubt,  for  the  finishing  touches, 
and  yet,  when  finished,  well  worthy  of  the  years  of  labor 
bestowed  upon  it.  Of  this  work,  a  writer  in  the  Calcutta 
Review  speaks  as  follows : — "  He  published  another  work,  a 
grammar  of  no  pretensions,  and  of  very  small  dimensions,  yet  a 
manual  which  indicated  the  genius  of  the  man  perhaps,  more 
strikingly  than  anything  else,  except  his  Bible.  He  has  man- 
aged, from  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  language,  to  condense 
into  a  few  short  pages  (76),  a  most  complete  grammar  of  this 
difficult   tongue^  and  as  the  student  grows  in  knowledge,  pari 


38  JtTDSON    CENTENNIAL. 

passu,  this  little  volume  rises  in  his  estimation  ;  for  its  lucid 
comprehensive  conciseness  becomes  more  and  more  manifest, 
In  our  limited  acquaintance  with  languages,  whether  of  the 
East  or  West,  we  have  seen  no  work  in  any  tongue  which  we 
should  compare  with  it  for  brevity  and  completeness." 

I  remember  the  late  Mr.  Crawley,  who  became  an  accom- 
plished scholar  in  the  Burmese  language,  according  to  this  work 
the  same  kind  of  praise.  He  considered  it,  he  once  told  me  a 
very  elementary  work,  when  first  placed  in  his  hands ;  but  his 
sense  of  its  value  and  inexhaustibleness  grew  with  his  own 
knowledge  of  the  language. 

Dr.  Judson's  tracts  were  no  less  remarkable  than  his  gram- 
mar. They  have  been  in  great  and  constant  circulation  for 
more  than  fifty  years,  and  are  as  fresh  and  appropriate  to-day, 
as  when  first  printed.  One  of  them,  perhaps  the  most  striking, 
at  any  rate  the  most  popular,  is  the  Golden  Balance,  a  transla- 
tion of  which  appears  in  the  appendix  of  the  second  volume  of 
Dr.  Wayland's  memoir  of  Dr.  Judson.  A  single  illustration  out 
of  scores  that  might  be  furnished,  will  indicate  the  esteem  in 
which  that  tract  is  held.  A  few  years  ago,  a  man  on  board  a 
river  steamer,  on  his  way  to  Rangoon,  was  so  anxious  to  secure 
a  copy,  that  he  offered  a  rupee  to  a  man  who  had  it,  hoping 
thus  to  induce  him  to  j)art  with  it.  Failing  in  this,  he  got  per- 
mission to  make  a  copy  of  it.  On  reaching  Rangoon,  he  made 
some  inquiries  as  to  where  the  tract  could  be  procured,  but  be- 
ing a  stranger,  was  unsuccessful.  Great  was  his  joy  therefore, 
when,  a  few  days  later,  he  went  on  a  worship  day  to  the  Shway- 
dagon  pagoda,  to  fall  in  with  old  Mr.  Abrahams,  an  Arme- 
nian convert,  who  had  gone  thither  with  a  supply  of  tracts,  the 
Crolden  Balance  among  them,  to  distribute  among  the  Buddhist 
worshippers. 

Dr.  Judson  contributed  three  hymns  to  the  Burmese  Hymn- 
Book.  The  first  hymn  ever  written  in  the  Burmese  language, 
had  Dr.  Judson  for  its  author.  It  is  a  curious  circumstance 
that  none  of  the  early  missionaries  to  Burma  could  sing,  and 
when  the  late  Mr.  R.  B.  Hancock,  who  arrived  in  the  country  in 
1833,  twenty  years  after  the  commencement  of  the  mission, 
sought  to  introduce  singing  as  part  of  the  worship,  the  disciples 
resented  it  as  an  innovation,  until  they  had  been  reassured  by 


JUDSON   CENTENNIAL.  39 

Dr.  Judson.  The  contribution  of  a  few  hymns  from  his  own 
pen  would  serve  still  further  to  support  the  new  missionary  in 
the  alleged  innovation. 

Passing  over  for  lack  of  time  with  the  bare  mention,  the 
Burmo-English  and  English-Burman  dictionaries,  the  crown- 
ing work  of  his  life  was  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the 
Burmese  language,  which  was  commenced  in  1817,  and  finished 
in  1834.  In  a  postscript  to  his  letter  to  the  Cor.  Secretary,  of 
Jan.  31,  1834,  he  writes : — 

"  Thanks  be  to  God,  I  can  now  say,  I  have  attained,  I  have 
knelt  down  before  Him,  with  the  last  leaf  in  my  hand,  and  im- 
ploring His  forgiveness  for  all  the  sins  which  have  i:)olluted  my 
labors  in  this  department,  and  His  aid  in  future  efforts  to  re- 
move errors  and  imperfections  which  necessarily  cleave  to  the 
work,  I  have  commended  it  to  His  mercy  and  grace.  I  have 
dedicated  it  to  His  glory.  May  He  make  His  own  inspired  word, 
now  complete  in  the  Burmese  tongue,  the  grand  instrument 
of  filling  all  Burma  with  songs  of  praise  to  our  great  God 
and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ." 

No  missionary,  since  Dr.  Judson,  has  learned  the  language 
with  so  little  to  help  him.  Perhaps  the  very  difficulties  con- 
tributed to  the  superior  excellence  of  the  results.  That  his 
ability  in  the  use  of  the  language  was  remarkable,  even  at  the 
early  date  when  he  commenced  work  on  the  New  Testament,  is 
manifest  from  an  incident  which  occurred  in  1818,  on  his  way 
to  Madras.  Stopping  at  Cheduba,  and  himself  unable  to  go 
ashore,  he  took  the  opportunity  of  sending  a  tract  by  the  boat. 
It  happened  to  be  conveyed  immediately  to  the  governor,  and 
he  ordered  it  to  be  read  in  his  presence.  When,  soon  after,  the 
captain  had  an  audience,  the  governor  inquired  after  the  writer  of 
the  tract,  who  he  was  and  how  long  he  had  been  in  the  country. 
The  captain,  fearing  detention,  merely  stated  that  the  writer  was 
a  foreigner  who  had  resided  in  Rangoon  about  four  years. 
''  No,"  replied  the  governor,  "  that  is  not  to  be  credited.  You 
cannot  make  me  believe  that  a  foreigner,  in  so  short  a  time, 
has  learned  to  write  the  language  so  well.  It  must  have  been 
written  by  some  other  person." 

The  Burmese  language,  re-inforced  and  enriched  as  it  has 
been  by  the  Pali,  a  dialect  of  the  ancient  Sanscrit,  lias  a  wide 


40  JUDSON   CENTENNIAL. 

range,  and  there  is  great  room  for  choice  in  words  and  modes 
of  expressions.  Dr.  Judson  has  exhibited  the  skill  of  a  master, 
and  it  is  the  unanimous  opinion  of  all  who  are  competent  to 
have  an  opinion,  that,  so  far  as  the  beauty,  vigor  and  purity  of 
diction  are  concerned,  the  Burmese  Bible  holds  the  same  exalted 
position  in  that  language  which  is  held  by  our  own  matchless 
Bible  in  respect  to  the  English  language.  It  is  not  a  transla- 
tion from  the  English,  but  from  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek  ; 
and  in  the  work  of  Karen  Bible  revision,  in  which,  for  the  past 
year,  Mr.  Thomas  and  myself  have  been  engaged,  it  has  been  a 
matter  of  constant  remark  between  us,  that  both  the  Karen  and 
Burmese  translations  have  anticipated  the  changes  in  the  re- 
cently revised  English  scriptures  in  almost  every  case.  And  so 
it  has  come  to  pass,  that  for  the  past  fifty  years,  thanks  to  the 
scholarship  and  fidelity  of  Dr.  Adoniram  Judson  and  Dr.  Fran- 
cis Mason,  the  Burmans  and  Karens  have  had  a  Bible  more 
faithful  to  the  original  than  we  have  had, —  than  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race  has  had !  And  this  leads  me,  in  closing,  to  dwell  a 
moment  on  the  occasion  we  have  to  thank  the  God  of  missions 
and  the  God  of  the  Bible  for  his  great  goodness  in  raising  up, 
successively,  chosen  men,  picked  men,  for  the  great  work  of 
Bible  translation.  It  may  be  true  of  other  missions,  also,  but 
it  is  pre-eminently  so  of  Burma,  which  has  had  Dr.  Judson  for 
the  Burmese,  Dr.  Mason  for  the  Karen,  and  Dr.  Gushing  for 
the  Shan,  all  of  whom  have,  with  great  ability  and  fidelity,  made 
original  translations. 

The  last  two,  however,  have  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  being 
able  to  refer  to  the  Burmese,  a  kind  of  advantage  not  enjoyed 
by  Dr.  Judson.  To  him,  therefore,  and  to  his  work,  must  always 
be  given  the  highest  place  among  the  Bible  translators  for  the 
races  of  Burma. 


ADDRKSS. 

The  Relation  of  Theological  Learning   to  Missionary  Work. 
ALVAH    HOVEY,   D.   D.,    LL.    D. 


TT  would  be  a  mistake  for  me  to  assume  that  any  of  you  are 
in  doubt  concerning  the  relation  of  theological  learning  to 
missionary  work ;  for  such  an  assumption  could  only  be 
made  by  one  who  believed  you  to  be  unacquainted  with  theolo- 
gy or  with  missions,  while  I  am  sure  that  you  are  intelligent 
friends  of  both.  Indeed,  such  has  been  the  history  of  missionary 
work  in  our  denomination,  that  it  seems  to  me  impossible  for 
any  well-informed  supporter  of  foreign  missions  to  be  indiffer- 
ent to  theological  education.  The  name  of  our  great  pioneer 
missionary,  who  was  born  a  hundred  years  ago  in  this  town,  is 
an  argument  for  the  value  of  theological  learning  to  one  who 
preaches  Christ  to  the  benighted ;  and  a  similar  argument  is 
enfolded  in  the  names  of  Mason  and  Wade,  of  Vinton  and  Has- 
well,  of  Binney  and  Stevens,  of  Abbott  and  Beecher,  of  Thomas 
and  Carpenter,  of  Crawley  and  Johnson,  of  Jones  and  Brown, 
of  Goddard  and  Knowlton,  not  to  mention  the  names  of  many 
more  who  have  finished  their  course  below  the  stars,  or  of  an 
equal  number  who  still  remain  to  bear  the  burden  and  heat  of 
the  day.  Nor  can  I  forbear  to  place  on  this  roll  of  honor  the 
name  of  one  who  is  so  often  called  "  the  sainted  Boardman," 
though  his  theological  learning  was  not  obtained  in  a  seminary, 
and  though  his  brief  term  of  service  in  the  foreign  field  did  not 
allow  him  to  pour  out  all  the  stores  of  Christian  truth  which 
he  had  gained. 

Not,  then,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  but  simply  to  remind 
you  of  what  may  sometimes  be  forgotten,  I  will  venture  to  show 
the  relation  of  theological  learning  to  missionary  work.  The- 
ology is  the  doctrine  of  God,  our  heavenly  Father,  the  Supreme 
Ruler  of  mankind.  To  learn  the  truth,  or  even  part  of  the  truth 
concerning  him, —  concerning  his  being,  his  perfection,  his  pur- 


42  JtJDSON    CENTENNIAL. 

pose,  his  providence,  his  grace,  his  redemption,- —  concerning  his 
Son,  his  Spirit,  and  his  church,  is  to  learn  theology.  In  this 
study,  we  endeavor  to  see  the  universe  in  its  relation  to  God 
and  to  ascertain  his  method  of  bringing  men  out  of  nature's 
darkness  into  his  marvellous  light. 

And  the  sources  of  truth  respecting  God  and  his  will  are 
manifold  and  inexhaustible.  All  the  wonders  of  nature  testify 
of  him  to  an  earnest  student  of  theology.  Unseen  elements  and 
forces, —  heat,  electricity,  magnetism,  gravitation, —  all  the  in- 
stincts and  sagacities  of  beast  or  bird,  all  the  faculties  of  mind 
and  heart  in  man,  all  the  lore  of  the  past  and  all  the  science  of 
the  present,  speak  of  God  and  his  ways  to  the  reverent  soul. 
For  "  the  earth  is  the  Lord's  and  the  fullness  thereof,"  and  "  the 
invisible  things  of  Him  since  the  creation  of  the  world  are  clearly 
seen,  being  perceived  through  the  things  that  are  made,  even 
His  everlasting  power  and  divinity." 

But  a  radical  acquaintance  with  the  Word  of  God  is  the 
principal  element  in  theological  learning.  Such  an  acquain- 
tance means  much  more  than  familiarity  with  the  language  of 
scripture,  or  facility  in  repeating  its  choicest  sayings.  It  means 
a  trained  ability  and  habit  of  searching  after  the  inmost  sense 
of  the  record,  of  penetrating  to  the  unseen  heart  of  truth,  out 
of  which  its  vital  currents  rush  and  throb  through  all  the  arte- 
ries of  the  Word,  of  digging  down  to  the  bed-rock  of  ultimate 
principle  that  underlies  the  ever-changing  and  beautiful  land- 
scape of  divine  revelation,  and  there  resting  secure  on  the  eter- 
nal foundations.  To  form  this  habit,  and  to  acquire  this  ability 
of  dealing  thoroughly  with  the  Word  of  truth,  is  the  best  part 
of  theological  learning.  It  brings  one  into  closest  contact  with 
"  the  lively  oracles."  It  enables  one  to  wield  with  better  judg- 
ment and  effect  "  the  sword  of  the  Spirit."  It  prepares  one  to 
translate  the  divine  message  from  the  original  languages  into 
other  tongues,  and  it  helps  one  to  see  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ  with  more  distinctness, —  a  vision  which  imparts  courage 
and  hope  to  the  soul.  By  this  learning,  the  missionary  preacher 
is  assisted  in  his  work,  and  it  is  well-nigh  indispensable  to  the 
missionary  teacher.  Dr.  Judson's  translation  of  the  Bible  into 
the  Burman  language  is  indebted  to  his  theological  learning 
for  some  part   of   its  accuracy  and  excellence.     Dr.    Mason's 


JUDSON    CENTENNIAL.  43 

Karen  version  of  the  scriptures  owes  much  to  his  persistent 
studies  in  Newton ;  and  I  am  convinced  that  if  the  whole  influ- 
ence of  theological  learning  upon  missionary  work,  as  conducted 
by  Protestant  Christians  in  modern  times,  could  be  exactly 
ascertained,  it  would  prove  to  have  been  very  great  and  very 
benehcent. 

Consider  also,  in  this  connection,  the  fundameutal  quality 
of  missionary  work, —  how  a  pioneer  in  this  service,  like  Dr. 
Judson,  wins  the  first  converts,  forms  the  first  churches,  writes 
the  first  covenants,  trains  the  first  native  preachers,  prints  the 
first  tracts,  administers  the  first  acts  of  discipline,  and  in  a  word, 
sets  in  motion  the  whole  system  of  Christian  living.  Almost 
everything  depends  upon  his  intelligence  and  discretion.  If  he 
is  ignorant  or  rash,  disaster  must  follow.  If  he  is  well  instructed 
in  the  truth,  and  discreet  in  the  application  of  Christian  princi- 
ples, his  work  will  stand. 

But  it  must  be  freely  admitted  that  no  amount  of  Biblical 
knowledge  will  compensate  for  a  lack  of  good  sense  or  earnest 
piety.  Sincerely  as  I  believe  in  the  blessed  influence  of  theol- 
ogical learning,  and  grateful  as  I  am  for  the  privilege  of  help- 
ing young  men  to  secure  it  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  greater 
service  in  "  the  high  places  of  the  field,"  I  have  never  dared  to 
look  upon  it  as  a  chief  qualification  for  missionary  work.  Every- 
thing in  its  rank  and  place.  I  have  been  accustomed  to  arrange 
the  qualifications  for  mission  work  in  the  following  order : 
Devotion  to  Christ,  good  judgment,  steadiness  of  purpose,  hope- 
fulness, physical  health,  linguistic  capacity,  suitable  education, 
and  suitable  age.  You  will  observe  that  education  or  learning 
is  named  next  the  last  in  a  list  of  eight  qualifications.  But  do 
not,  therefore,  imagine  that  I  deem  it  of  small  importance. 
Every  one  of  these  qualifications  is  well-nigh,  if  not  absolutely, 
essential.  No  one  of  them  can  be  wanting  in  a  missionary  with- 
out serious  detriment  to  his  work. 

I  esteem  it  a  most  auspicious  sign  of  the  times  that  so  many 
theological  students  are  pondering  the  question  of  missionary 
service.  Year  by  year  a  greater  proportion  of  these  choice  men 
is  seen  to  pause  on  the  threshold  of  public  life  to  consider  the 
claims  of  Christ  upon  their  ministry  on  heathen  shores.     Year 


44  JUDSON    CENTENNIAL. 

by  year  their  teachers  are  offering  to  them  ampler  instruction 
as  to  the  principles,  the  demands,  and  the  prospects  of  this  holy 
enterprise.  To  these  students  the  friends  of  missions  are  look- 
ing for  other  Judsons  and  Boardmans  to  bear  the  gospel  to 
those  who  sit  in  darkness.  When  they  pray,  as  doubtless  they 
sometimes  do,  to  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  send  forth  laborers 
into  his  harvest,  I  opine  that  their  eyes  often  turn  with  longing 
expectation  to  Newton  or  Hamilton,  to  Rochester  or  Morgan 
Park,  to  Crozer  or  Louisville,  for  they  judge,  not  without  reason, 
that  theology  and  consecration  go  hand  in  hand,  that  the  spirit 
of  God  will  admit  some  of  these  educated  young  men  to  gird 
up  their  loins  and  go  far  hence  to  the  Gentiles.  The  thing  that 
has  been  is  the  thing  that  will  be.  If  prayer  is  offered,  it  will 
be  answered.  If  young  men,  whose  minds  are  enriched  with 
sacred  learning,  are  called  by  Jesus  Christ  to  self-denying  ser- 
vice in  foreign  lands,  they  will  hearken  to  the  call.  The  learn- 
ing of  Moses,  the  culture  of  Isaiah,  the  education  of  Paul,  were 
embraced  in  their  qualifications  for  the  work  to  which  they  were 
divinely  appointed  ;  and  the  conditions  of  efficiency  in  religious 
leadership  remain  the  same  as  of  old. 

How  vast  and  complex  is  the  network  of  means  by  which 
the  divine  purpose  is  carried  into  effect  I  How  silently  and 
skillfully  does  the  grace  of  God  ally  itself  with  the  powers  of 
men,  and  turn  their  early  training  to  the  best  possible  account ! 
How  patiently  does  the  Prince  of  Mansoul  adjust  his  holy  influ- 
ence to  the  native  capacity,  the  youthful  discipline,  and  the  per- 
sonal experience  of  ten  thousand  free  agents,  leading  them  all 
by  various  paths  into  the  same  loving  ministry  for  the  weal  of 
mankind  I  How  swiftly  are  the  discoveries,  the  inventions  and 
the  ceaseless  activities  of  modern  life  brought  by  the  supreme 
Ruler  to  further  the  spread  of  his  gospel !  Do  you  say  that 
there  is  another  side  of  this  shield  ?  That  from  Satan's  stand- 
point all  these  activities  are  drawing  away  from  God?  To 
some  extent  this  is  true.  Everything  good  is  liable  to  abuse. 
But  I  have  an  abiding  faith  that  Christ  is  stronger  and  wiser 
than  Satan.  I  believe  that  this  world  belongs  tq  him.  The 
Lord  is  King,  and  he  will  reign  until  he  has  put  all  things 
under  his  feet.     And  in  putting  all  things  under  him  human 


JUDSON     CENTENNIAL. 


46 


agency  will  be  employed  :  natural  and  acquired  powers  will  be 
utilized ;  men,  young  and  strong,  educated  and  consecrated, 
will  go  into  the  fields,  white  for  the  harvest,  and  reap.  Thus 
theological  learning  is  closely  related  to  missionary  work,  and 
in  praying  for  the  schools  you  are  praying  for  missions ;  while 
in  praying  for  missions  you  are,  less  consciously,  perhaps,  pray- 
ing for  the  schools.  For  the  present,  at  least,  by  the  will  of 
God,  they  are  one  and  inseparable.  Let  them  work  for  the 
same  Master  and  the  same  end,  with  the  same  spirit,  and  there 
will  be  joy  in  the  highest  at  the  increase  of  peace  on  earth. 


r"" — I 


''*. .  --^' j^^----  .".^''^'V 


KOUR    KOOIvISH    YOUNO    PKOPLE. 


The  following  extract  is  from  a  letter  written  by  a  promi- 
nent citizen  of  Haverhill,  Mass.,  to  a  gentleman  then  in  Lisbon, 
Portugal.  It  sounds  queerly  at  the  present  time.  Only  God 
can  see  the  end  from  the  beginning.  It  is  dated  February  12th, 
1812. 

"  I  think  of  nothing  interesting  to  add.  I  will,  however, 
just  observe  that  religious  enthusiasm  still  continues  to  prevail 
here.  Believe  me,  unaccountable  as  it  may  appear  to  you,  that 
what  I  am  about  to  repeat  to  you  is  true.  A  daughter  of  the 
late  Moses  Atwood,  deceased,  by  the  name  of  Harriet,  and  a 
young  Miss  Hazeltine,  of  the  Hazeltine  family  of  Bradford, 
young  (about  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  old,)  and  totally  in- 
experienced in  the  school  of  human  nature,  are  about  to  embark 
with  their  companions  (to  whom  they  have  but  yesterday  allied 
themselves  by  marriage)  — yes,  I  say  that  these  four  foolish  and 
inexperienced  young  people  are  about  to  emhark,  and  will  actually 
sail  for  the  far-distant  shores  of  JTindoostan,  and,  marvellous  to 
tell,  to  teach  that  7iumerous  and  ancient  people  the  right  way  to 
Heaven!  Why  disturb  that  or  any  other  people  about  their 
religious  opinions  ?  We,  like  all  other  people  under  heaven, 
are  tenacious  of  our  own  religious  opinions.  It  is  of  no  conse- 
quence whether  my  neighbor  believes  in  '  one  God  or  twenty 
gods,'  so  long  as  he  does  not  rob  my  pockets.  It  is  unnecessary 
for  me  to  dwell  longer  on  this  subject,  as  you  can  easily  antici- 
pate what  further  might  be  added." 

Observe :  "  These  four  foolish  and  inexperienced  young 
people"  are  now  known  to  the  world  under  the  following  illus- 
trious names :  Adoniram  Judson,  Ann  Hazeltine  Judson, 
Samuel  Newell  and  Harriet  Atwood  Newell. 


EDWARD   JUDSON,    D.    D. 


ADDRKSS     AT     MALDEN, 

AUGUST  gth,  1888. 


BY   REV.    EDWARD   JUDSON,    D.    D. 


Mr.  President.,  brethren  and  sisters  : — 

I  think  you  will  agree  with  me  that  there  is  a  deep  undertone 
of  feeling  in  this  assembly  which  fails  to  find  expression.  We 
most  nearly  gave  expression  to  it  when  we  united  our  hearts 
and  voices  in  singing  Dr.  Smith's  graceful  and  glowing  lines. 

I  would  be  glad  to  contribute  to  the  interest  of  this  heart- 
stirring  occasion  a  rich  store  of  personal  reminiscences,  but  in 
the  nature  of  the  case  my  personal  acquaintance  with  my  father 
was  very  slight,  and  my  remembrances  are  correspondingly 
meagre.  I  was  only  four  months  old  when  he  took  his  depar- 
ture for  America,  accompanied  by  mother  and  the  three  older 
children,  leaving  behind  myself  and  my  two  little  brothers.  You 
know  the  result  of  that  voyage.  How,  when  they  came  to  the 
Isle  of  France,  my  mother's  health  seemed  so  far  restored  that 
my  father  decided  to  return  to  Burmah.  It  was  on  this  occasion 
that  my  mother  penned  those  never-to-be-forgotten  stanzas  : 

"  We  part  on  this  green  islet,  love, — 
Thou  for  the  eastern  main, 
I  for  the  setting  sun,  love. 
Oh  !  when  to  meet  again  ? 

"  My  heart  is  sad  for  thee,  love, 
For  lone  thy  way  will  be  ; 
And  oft  thy  tears  will  fall,  love, 
Tor  thy  children  and  for  me. 


48  JUDSON   CENTENNIAL. 

"The  music  of  thy  daughter's  voice 
Thou'lt  miss  for  many  a  year  ; 
And  the  merry  shout  of  thine  elder  boys 
Thou'lt  list  in  vain  to  hear. 

"  Yet  my  spirit  clings  to  thine,  love, 
Thy  soul  remains  with  me, 
And  oft  we'll  hold  communion  sweet 
O'er  the  dark  and  distant  sea. 

"And  who  can  paint  our  mutual  joy, 
When,  all  our  wanderings  o'er, 
We  both  shall  clasp  our  infants  three, 
At  home  on  Burmah's  shore  ? 

"  But  higher  shall  our  raptures  glow, 
On  yon  celestial  plain, 
When  the  loved  and  parted  here  below 
Meet,  ne'er  to  part  again, 

"  Then  gird  thine  armor  on,  love. 
Nor  faint  thou  by  the  way, 
Till  Buddh  shall  fall,  and  Burmah's  sons 
Shall  own  Messiah's  sway." 


My  mother's  health  again  failed,  so  that  my  father's  purpose 
of  going  back  to  Burmah  was  relinquished.  Little  by  little  she 
declined,  until,  as  the  vessel  entered  the  port  of  St.  Helena,  she 
died  at  early  dawn.  On  the  same  day  she  was  buried  at  St. 
Helena,  and  my  father  continued  his  voyage  to  America. 

During  his  stay  in  this  country,  one  of  my  little  brothers 
died,  and  on  his  return,  bringing  me  a  new  mother,  I  was  barely 
two  years  old.  When  I  was  a  little  over  five  years  old,  he  went 
on  board  ship  to  take  a  sea  voyage,  which  presented  the  only 
hope  of  the  recovery  of  his  health.  Within  four  days  of  the 
time  of  sailing,  he  died,  and  was  buried  in  the  ocean,  and  it  was 
four  months  before  the  intelligence  of  his  departure  came  to 
the  little  family  at  Maulmain.  So  you  see  that  my  personal 
acquaintance  with  him  covers  only  a  few  short  years  of  my 
early  childhood.  The  recollections  of  childhood  are  vivid,  but 
of  narrow  interest.     In  the  case  of  missionaries'  children,  the 


JUDSON   CENTENNIAL.  49 

ocean  voyage  serves,  indeed,  as  a  dividing  line,  making  the 
earliest  recollections  more  vivid;  but  such  reminiscences  are 
circumscribed  by  the  horizon  of  childhood,  and  possess  no  gen- 
eral interest.  What  interest  would  people  in  general  take  in 
my  remembrance  of  how  my  father  used  to  wake  me  up  early 
in  the  morning,  with  the  joyous  intelligence  that  a  rat  had  been 
caught  in  the  trap  the  night  before  ?  Of  what  general  interest 
would  be  my  recollection  of  his  comforting  and  soothing  caresses 
during  hours  of  illness  ?  Well  do  I  remember  the  day  when 
the  dreadful  news  came  of  his  death.  My  mother  gathered 
then  our  little  family  together, —  my  little  brother  three  years 
older  than  I,  my  half-sister  three  years  younger,  and  myself, — 
and  brought  us  to  this  country.  Only  to-day,  I  received  a  letter 
from  that  half-sister,  who  would  have  been  with  us  only  for 
severe  illness  in  her  own  family, —  the  one  about  whom  was 
composed  that  beautiful  lyric,  called  "  My  Bird  "  : 

"  Ere  last  year's  moon  had  left  the  sky, 
A  birdling  sought  my  Indian  nest; 
And  folded,  oh,  so  lovingly  ! 
Her  tiny  wings  upon  my  breast. 

"  From  morn  till  evening's  purple  tinge, 
In  winsome  helplessness  she  lies  ; 
Two  rose  leaves  with  a  silken  fringe, 
Shut  softly  on  her  starry  eyes. 

'"•  There's  not  in  Ind  a  lovelier  bird  ; 

Broad  earth  owns  not  a  happier  nest ; 
O  God,  Thou  hast  a  fountain  stirred, 
Whose  waters  nevermore  shall  rest." 

There  are  many  points  of  view  from  which  a  human  life  may 
be  considered.  How  much  interest  belongs  even  to  the  hum- 
blest career ! 

"  Between  two  breaths  what  crowded  mysteries  lie  ; 
The  first  short  gasp,  the  last  and  long-drawn  sigh  !  " 

My  father's  life,  when  viewed  from  his  own  standpoint  and 
even  that  of  his  contemporaries,  must  often  have  looked  like 
failure.     It  was  so  with  the  life  of  Christ.     He  said :  •'  I  thank 


50  JUDSON   CENTENNIAL. 

thee,  O,  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth !"  or,  as  it  should  be 
more  correctly  rendered,  "  I  fully  confess  to  Thee.  I  make  a 
clean  breast  of  it  to  Thee ;  that  Thou  hast  hid  these  things  from 
the  wise  and  prudent,"  or,  in  other  words,  that  "  I  have  made 
no  impression  upon  the  society  about  me.  I  have  not  succeeded 
in  reaching  persons  of  social  and  intellectual  importance,  and 
have  only  gathered  together  a  few  people,  a  few  simple  and 
ignorant  people, —  mere  babes."  The  whole  passage  is  a  sub- 
lime confession  of  signal  failure.  He  acknowledges  his  failure, 
and  seeks  comfort  in  resignation  to  his  Father's  will,  and  in 
hope  that  looks  far  into  the  future.  Such  has  been  the  case 
with  many  of  his  followers.  How  much  of  my  father's  life  must 
have  seemed  to  him  a  failure  ! 

Far  back  in  1812,  he  and  his  associates  had  to  embark  al- 
most by  stealth,  so  mad  and  quixotic  did  the  enterprise  appear, 
and  so  great  was  the  popular  contempt  and  indignation  against 
the  whole  undertaking.  *  For  seven  years  he  labored,  without 
winning  a  single  convert,  and  it  was  during  that  time  that  he 
pencilled  the  following  lines  on  a  fly-leaf  of  his  grammar  :  — 

'*  In  joy  or  sorrow,  health  or  pain, 
Our  course  be  onward  still; 
We  sow  on  Burmah's  barren  plain, 
We  reap  on  Zion's  hill." 

You  remember  the  words  he  wrote  to  Luther  Rice  about 
Christians  and  home  :  "  If  they  are  unwilling  to  risk  their  bread 
on  such  a  forlorn  hope  as  has  nothing  but  the  Word  of  God  to 
sustain  it,  beg  of  them,  at  least,  not  to  prevent  others  from  giv- 
ing us  bread,  and  if  we  live  some  twenty  or  thirty  years,  they 
may  hear  from  us  again."  At  the  end  of  ten  years  he  had  a 
little  church  of  eighteen  members.  Then  came  the  war,  and 
while  enduring  suffering  which  he  regarded  as  utterly  profit- 
less, he  must  have  felt  that  his  life-work  was  all  going  to  pieces. 
It  was  then  he  used  to  comfort  himself,  repeating  Madame 
Guyon's  refrain : 

"  No  place  I  seek  but  to  fulfill 
In  life  and  death  Thy  lovely  will; 
No  succor  in  my  woes  I  want, 
Except  what  Thou  art  pleased  to  grant. 

♦  Vide  p.  46. 


JUDSON   CENTENNIAL.  51 

"  Our  days  are  numbered — let  us  spare 
Our  anxious  hearts  a  needless  care  ; 
'Tis  Thine  to  number  out  our  days, 
And  ours  to  give  them  to  Thy  praise." 

Then  when  the  war  was  over,  he  returned  to  Rangoon  and 
found  his  church  scattered.  There  were  only  four  members 
that  could  be  found.  He  then  went  to  Amherst,  and  there 
experienced  a  disastrous  failure,  because  the  seat  of  Govern- 
ment was  soon  to  be  transferred  to  Maulmain.  Here,  indeed, 
he  saw  some  precious  fruits  of  his  labor,  but  then  came  sickness 
and  sorrow,  a  necessary  return  to  this  country,  and  when  he 
again  found  himself  in  Burmah,  he  longed  to  go  to  Ava.  His 
acquaintance  with  the  language,  and  prolonged  missionary  expe- 
rience, fitted  him  for  such  an  aggressive  movement,  and  all 
Providential  intimations  seemed  to  point  in  that  direction. 
How  bitter,  then,  was  his  disappointment,  when  the  policy  of 
retrenchment  at  home  caused  him  to  retreat  instead  of  advanc- 
ing. He  felt  then  that  he  had  been  forgotten  by  the  Christians 
at  home,  and  declared  that  the  Baptists  were  far  behind  in  mis- 
sionary enterprise.  "  The  Baptist  missions,"  he  writes,  "  will 
probably  pass  into  the  hands  of  other  denominations."  Little 
did  he  dream  that  there  was  so  near  at  hand  a  time  such  as 
Faber  describes  in  his  exquisite  lines. 

"  Far,  far  away,  like  bells  of  evening  pealing, 

The  voice  of  Jesus  sounds  o'er  the  land  and  sea, 
And  laden  souls  by  thousands  meekly  stealing, 
Kind  Shepherd  turn  their  weary  steps  to  Thee." 

How  many  great  souls  have  drank  of  the  cup  of  present  dis- 
appointment, without  feeling  an  intimation  of  the  glorious  re- 
sults which  were  to  come  afterwards !  How  many  live  only 
long  enough  ''to  hear  the  world  applaud  the  hollow  ghost  which 
blamed  the  living  man  I " 

The  law  seems  to  be  that  the  real  builders  of  social  institu- 
tions have  slow  work,  and  often  dwell  in  the  sorrowful  con- 
sciousness of  failure.  If  a  man  does  not  know  by  experience 
what  failure  is,  it  is  because  he  is  only  manipulating  social 


52  JUDSON   CENTENNIAL. 

force  which  have  been  brought  into  being  by  the  blood  and 
sweat  of  others.  "  My  Dear  Philosopher,"  a  lady  writes  to 
Voltaire,  "•  it  is  easier  to  write  on  paper  than  on  human  flesh." 
You,  who  know  what  it  is  to  co]3e  with  failure,  to  whom  it  often 
seems  that  you  are  pushing  your  way  through  a  patch  of  bur- 
docks and  briers  which  are  constantly  pulling  you  back,  so  that 
you  seem  sometimes  to  have  leaded  feet,  as  in  a  nightmare,  and 
to  be  able,  with  the  greatest  struggling,  to  make  no  real  advance, 
what  encouragement  can  you  take  from  the  lives  of  those  who 
have  accomplished  the  most  for  humanity ;  who,  while  they 
lived,  were  ignored,  and  died  without  entering  into  the  prom- 
ises ?  But  what  is  to  be  the  practical  upshot  of  this  occasion  ? 
This  is  an  age  of  memorials  and  jubilees.  Let  not  our  virtues 
evaporate  in  admiration  of  distant  feats  of  heroism  which  we 
are  unwilling  to  undertake  ourselves.  Otherwise,  shall  we  not 
incur  our  Lord's  reproach  ?  "  Woe  unto  ye  Scribes  and  Phari- 
sees, hypocrites,  for  ye  build  the  tombs  of  the  Prophets,  and 
garnish  the  sepulchres  of  the  righteous."  Let  us  put  ourselves 
where  there  is  the  greatest  strain. 

"  High  deeds  haunt  not  the  friugy  edges  of  the  fight, 
But  the  pell-mell  of  men." 

How  can  we  best  help  the  cause  of  missions  ?  Not  by  per- 
suading others  to  go.  What  good  results  from  great  mass 
meetings,  where  the  enthusiasm  runs  high  and  impressions  are 
created  which  do  not  crystalize  into  definite  purposes?  Heated 
addresses,  which  conceal  the  dangers  and  difficulties  of  mission- 
ary life,  and  describe  only  the  romantic  features,  may  secure 
men,  but  they  will  not  be  of  the  right  kind. 

A  she-wolf,  who  had  a  large  family,  used  to  taunt  a  lioness 
who  had  only  one  cub,  but  the  lioness  fitly  replied,  "Unum, 
sed  leonem," — one,  but  a  lion.  Better  fewer  men,  provided 
that  they  are  of  the  right  sort. 

General  Gordon  rebuked  an  officer  once  in  the  words, 
"  Never  order  a  man  to  do  what  you  are  afraid  to  do  yourself." 

During  the  war  it  was  not  the  fire-eaters,  either  at  the  North 
or  at  the  South,  who  were  at  the  front.  But  let  us  see  that 
those  who  go  are  amply  sustained.     If  we  cannot  go  ourselves. 


JUDSON   CENTENNIAL.  53 

the  least  we  can  do  is  to  support  the  cause.     I  was  told  the 
following  story  about  Stonewall  Jackson  : 

"  It  was  at  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Second  Bull  Run,  and  the  coun- 
try in  the  neighborhood  of  that  battle  was  just  quivering  with  excite- 
ment. The  telegraph  wires  were  down  ;  the  people  seemed  to  feel  in 
the  air  that  there  had  been  a  great  battle,  but  they  could  not  get  the  news 
as  to  what  the  issue  of  the  fray  had  been.  In  the  town  where  Stonewall 
Jackson  had  lived,  Lexington,  it  was  found  that  there  was  in  the  post 
office  a  letter  in  his  handwriting,  addressed  to  the  pastor  of  the  church 
he  attended,  and  it  was  known  that  that  letter  came  right  from  the  field 
of  battle.  The  little  town  was  roused,  and  the  citizens  gathered  around 
the  post  office.  Dr.  White,  the  pjistor,  appeared,  and  they  put  him  on  a 
dry  goods  box  and  gathered  around  to  hear  that  letter  from  Stonewall 
Jackson,  written  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  the  minister  tore  it  open  and 
read  something  like  this  : 

My  Deak  J'astor  : 

1  remember  that  this  is  the  day  for  the  collection  usually  taken  up 
in  our  church  for  foreign  missions.  Please  find  enclosed  ray  check  for 
dollars.  I  remain,  yours  truly,  T.  J.  JACKSON, 

That  great  general,  on  the  decisive  field  of  battle,  remem- 
bered that  there  was  another  battle  going  on  ;  that  that  battle, 
important  as  it  was,  was  not  the  only  fray  that  he  was  engaged 
in ;  but  there  was  still  greater  war  pending,  and  he  was  not  un- 
mindful of  his  duty. 

Let  the  memory  of  the  sainted  dead  spur  us  on  to  nobler 
endeavor.  The  legend  has  it  that  after  John,  the  beloved  disci- 
ple, had  been  buried,  the  grave  mound  still  rose  and  fell  with 
his  breath.  You  cannot  bury  a  saint  so  deep  that  he  will  not 
affect  the  lives  of  those  who  walk  over  his  grave.  Let  us  share 
in  the  spirit  of  him  whom  we  admire,  and  so  shall  we  be  like 
one  whom  my  father  describes  in  the  following  words : 

''  It  is  all  one  whether  he  is  in  a  city  or  in  a  desert,  among  relations 
or  among  savage  foes,  in  the  heat  of  the  Indies  or  in  the  ice  of  Green- 
land; his  Infinite  Friend  is  always  at  hand.  He  need  not  fear  want  or 
sickness  or  pain,  this  Best  Friend  does  all  things  well.  He  need  not  fear 
death,  though  he  come  in  the  most  shocking  form,  for  death  is  only  a 
drawing  of  the  veil  which  conceals  his  dearest  Friend." 


LKTTERS     AND     EXTRACTS. 


[  The  widespread  influence  of  Judson's  life  is  well  illustrated  in  the 
following  letters  and  extracts.  Coming  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
States,  they  also  represent  the  interest  which  this  centennial  year  of 
pioneer  mission  work  holds  in  every  Baptist  church  in  our  land, —  an 
interest  that  should  culminate  in  most  munificent  liberality  for  the  wider 
teaching  of  the  blessed  gospel.  ] 

To  the  First  Baptist  Churchy  Maiden^  Mass. 

Dear  Friends  in  Christ,  —  I  wish  that  the  many  miles 
that  separate  Minneapolis  from  Maiden  could  be  eliminated 
today,  and  that  I  could  be  with  you  on  this  centennial  of  the 
birth  of  my  father.  My  heart  and  soul  are  with  you,  and  I 
thank  our  God  that  he  has  put  it  into  your  hearts  to  celebrate 
this  anniversary. 

Adoniram  Judson  has  been  alive  one  hundred  years.  Nearly 
two-thirds  of  this  time  he  dwelt  here  in  the  flesh,  and  labored 
with  untiring  energy  for  the  King  of  Glory.  The  remaining 
years  of  this  century  of  existence  he  has  dwelt  in  the  land  of 
souls.  But  he  is  not  idle  there.  He  is  not  dead  !  The  same 
spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  the  same  energy  of  nature,  the  same  force 
which  made  him  the  pioneer  missionary  here,  the  same  burning 
love  for  his  fellow  creatures,  the  same  devotion  to  the  Infinite 
Source  of  all  being,  characterize  him  there  as  here,  for  they 
formed  the  essential  elements  of  his  nature.  Though  eternal 
ages  will  bring  added  development,  he  will  always  be  the  indi- 
vidual spirit  that  we  know  him  here.  And  one  day,  if  we  are 
akin  to  him  in  aspiration,  we  shall  meet  him  there.  Let  us  im- 
itate him  in  all  the  points  in  which  he  resembled  the  Divine 
Son  of  God;  and  so  we  shall  be  welcomed  to  his  ennobling 
society  when  God  shall  call  us  to  his  heavenly  home. 

With  love  to  the  great  cause  of  Foreign  Missions,  and  with 

love  to  all  who  are  one  in  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ, 

I  am,  your  sister  in  faith, 

Abby  a.  Judson. 
Minneapolis.,  Minn. 


JtTDSOIf    CENTENNIAL.  55 

Reverend  and  Dear  Brother : 

I  take  pleasure  in  accepting  the  invitation  to  take  part  in 
the  celebration  of  the  anniversary  of  the  birthday  of  Dr.  Judson. 
Such  a  celebration  is  eminently  fitting.  The  world's  heroes  are 
honored  by  memorial  rites,  celebrating  the  day  of  their  birth  ; 
how  much  more  ought  we  to  honor  those  "  of  whom  the  world 
was  not  worthy  ?  " 

I  have  reason  to  feel  a  special  regard  for  Dr.  Judson,  In 
the  days  when  I  was  yet  a  student  in  theology  at  Andover,  he 
wrote  me,  —  I  know  not  how  my  name  had  ever  reached  him, — 
signing  his  letter,  not  with  his  own  name,  but  "  Ish  Mizar," — 
alluding  to  the  passage  in  the  forty-second  psalm :  "  Therefore 
will  I  remember  thee." 

His  letter  announced  that  about  the  time  of  my  receiving  it 
a  fund  of  ten  thousand  dollars  would  be  put  in  bank  to  ensure 
my  support  as  a  missionary  in  Palestine.  As  he  did  not  give  me 
his  name,  I  could  only  conjecture  who  was  my  unknown  corre- 
spondent. But  he  left  "  the  leaven  "  to  work  in  my  mind,  be- 
lieving that  it  would  not  be  in  vain,  — if  God  was  in  it,  and  if 
God's  plan  favored  it. 

He  was  always  interested  in  the  Jews.  The  old  men  of  his 
father's  age  used  to  pray  for  their  conversion.  He  never  lost  that 
feeling  of  interest,  as  an  occasional  item  in  his  history  testifies. 

During  his  farewell  visit  to  this  country  he  visited  my  house- 
He  sat  and  conversed  with  me  in  my  study.  His  presence  hal- 
lowed the  place.  The  thought  that  he  had  been  there  was  ever 
a  joy  and  an  inspiration. 

Years  ago  I  went  alone  to  visit  the  house  in  which  he  was 
born,  and  the  chamber  where  he  first  saw  the  light,  and  was 
treated  most  cordially  by  the  tenants  of  the  distinguished  dwell- 
ing. I  have  stood  on  the  hill  in  Plymouth  whose  summit  bears 
the  cenotaph  recording  his  revered  name,  with  those  of  his  fa- 
ther and  brothers,  and  the  grave,  near  by,  of  his  sister.  I  re- 
joice that  another  memorial  is,  through  you,  to  be  reared,  not  in 
perishable  marble,  but  in  immortal  words  and  hymns  and  prayer 
and  praise.     May  God  prosper  the  blessed  ceremonial. 

Faithfully  yours,  S.  F.  Smith. 

Newton  Centre,  Mass. 


56  JtJDSON    CENTENNIAL. 

Rev.  J.  Nelson  Lewis  : 

Dear  Brother, —  T  have  just  received,  through  iny  brother 
Edward,  your  kind  request  to  write  something  for  your  account 
of  the  Judson  Centennial 

As  a  delegate  from  the  Berean  Church,  of  this  city,  I  take 
this  opportunity  to  express  my  sense  of  the  charming  hospital- 
ity and  Christian  zeal  which  marked  the  Maiden  celebration. 

As  a  son  of  the  missionary  whose  birth  we  met  to  celebrate, 
I  could  say  but  little,  except  to  express  a  longing,  in  common 
with  my  Christian  brethren,  for  divine  help  in  renewed  efforts 
to  imitate  the  devotion  to  duty  which  marked  my  father's  life. 
Yours,  in  Christian  love, 

Adoniram  Brown  Judson. 
Madison  Square,  New  York. 


A.  R.  Turner.,  Jr..,  Maiden  : 

Dear  Sir, — 

If  the  anniversary  of  birth  of  poet,  philosopher,  or  philan- 
thropist is  celebrated,  why  should  that  of  the  pioneer  mission- 
ary be  forgotten  ?  What  life  of  civilian,  scholar,  or  statesman 
has  been  resplendent  with  more  promise  for  the  human  race, 
and  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth,  than 
that  of  Adoniram  Judson?  American  Baptists  over  the  conti- 
nent will  be  present  in  spirit  at  the  Maiden  Centennial.  His 
exceptional  talents,  consecration,  and  suffering,  in  founding  the 
Burman  mission,  have  won  the  admiration  of  civilians  as  well 
as  of  Christians  on  both  sides  of  the  sea.  That  was  a  touching 
tribute  to  Dr.  Judson's  worth,  offered  a  few  years  ago  by  the 
Moderator  of  the  Presbyterian  Assembly,  at  Saratoga,  —  him- 
self a  foreign  missionary,  —  that  if  he  reached  heaven,  next  to 
the  Divine  Master,  he  should  wish  to  meet  the  sainted  Judson. 
Such  attribute,  from  such  a  man !  Let,  then,  that  memorial 
building  rise  in  the  American  metropolis,  a  symbol  of  the  affin- 
ities of  evangelization  at  home  with  missions  abroad,  and  of 
the  devotion  of  American  Baptists,  alike  to  the  evangelization 
of  their  own  country  and  Christianizing  heathen  nations.     As 


JtTDSOlSl    CENTEKNIAL.  67 

it  will  enshrine  in  its  structure  and  in  its  ministry  the  name 
all  Baptists  throughout  the  world  should  especially  delight  to 
honor.  May  Baptists,  east  and  west,  north  and  south,  by  their 
contributions  hasten  the  completion  and  furnishing  of  the  Jud- 
son  Memorial  Church  Building,  on  Washington  Square,  New 
York  City.  W.  W.  Everts,  D.  D. 

Chicago,  III. 

"  I  hardly  need  say  that  I  deem  it  a  special  privilege,  as  well 
as  a  great  honor,  to  have  been  invited  to  participate  in  the 
commemoration.  A  special  privilege,  because,  although  not 
my  sire  by  blood,  he  was  to  me  all  that  the  best  of  fathers  could 
have  been ;  and  also  a  great  honor,  because  he  it  was,  who,  by 
his  greatness  and  his  goodness,  largely  shaped  the  mould  for 
modern  missions  and  American  missionaries.  May  the  spirit  of 
Adoniram  Judson  pervade  and  inspire  the  church  till  the  return 
of  Him  who  is,  in  the  truest  sense,  Jehovah's  Foreign  Mission- 
ary. Yours,  in  the  Goodly  Brotherhood, 

Geo.  Dana  Boakdman. 
Philadelphia. 


Mr.  A.  R.  Turner.,  Jr.: 

My  Dear  Sir. —  Although  the  father  of  the  great  mission- 
ary was  pastor  of  the  First  Church  in  Maiden  for  only  a  brief 
time,  our  Church  has  reason  to  be  proud  of  its  historic  connec- 
tion with  the  honored  name  of  Adoniram  Judson,  and  our  whole 
denomination  should  unite  with  yours  in  commemorating  his 
grand  life.  Very  sincerely  yours, 

J.  W.  Wellman,  D.  D. 
Maiden,  Mass. 


A.  R.  Turner,  Jr.,  Esq.: 

My  Dear  Brother. — I  like  exceedingly  the  idea  of  thus 
perpetuating  the  memory  of  our  departed  soldiers  of  the  cross. 
They  fought  the  warfare  of  Faith  against  the  Powers  of  Dark- 
ness, and  illustrated  the  true  spirit  of  Christian  heroism.  They 
have  left  to  us  the  examples  of  noble  lives  to  stimulate  our  zeal 


58  JUDSOl^    CENTENKIAL. 

in  the  cause  for  which  they  died.  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bor as  thyself"  is  nowhere  exemplified  so  forcibly  as  in  the 
lives  of  these  Christian  martyrs. 

I  pray  that  your  "  Centennial  Anniversary  "  may  be  blessed 
of  God,  in  kindling  anew  the  missionary  enthusiasm  of  your 
people,  and  that  its  influence  may  extend  over  our  entire  land. 
Very  sincerely  yours,  Jno.  H.  Weight. 

Si(ff(jlk,  Va. 


COPY  OF  TELEGRAM  RECEIVED  DURING  THE  SERVICES. 

To  A.  R.  Turner^  Acorn  Street: 

San  Francisco  Baptist  Ministerial  Union  honors  memory  of 
Adoniram  Judson.     Sends  centennial  greeting. 

BuNYAN  Spencer,  President, 
W.  C.  Spencer,  Secretary, 
G.  S.  Abbott, 

Committee. 

Oakland,  Col. 


Mr.  A.  11.  Turner,  Jr.  : 

Dear  Brother, — Adoniram  Judson  stands  in  the  front 
rank  of  great  and  heroic  men.  His  Christian  devotion  was 
matched  by  such  imperial  integrity  and  consummate  wisdom 
that  no  sneering  skeptic  dares  despise  and  deride  him.  He  was 
every  inch  a  man,  and  the  world  knows  it.  Our  knowledge  of 
him  makes  belief  in  the  historic  existence  of  St.  Paul  easy. 
Indeed,  Mr.  Judson  is  an  unimpeachable  witness  for  Jesus 
Christ,  for  without  Jesus  Christ  there  could  not  have  been  a 
Dr.  Judson. 

Sincerely  yours,  Cephas  B.  Crane. 

Concord,  N.  II. 


JUDSON    CENTEKNIAL.  59 

Dear  Sir. —  No  devout  soul,  in  any  degree  conversant  with 
the  heroic  devotion  of  the  noble  servant  of  God,  who,  in  agony 
and  privation,  in  the  darkness  of  apparently  unrequited  labor, 
for  the  present  reward  of  manacles,  stripes,  bereavements,  and 
incomprehensible  afflictions,  delved  patiently,  persistently  and 
cheerfully  through  the  mire  of  heathen  degradation,  to  reveal, 
for  a  foundation  of  a  new  faith, —  the  crucified  Cluist, —  can 
fail  to  swell  with  joyful  thanksgiving  at  the  marvellous  results 
that  God  has  begun  to  manifest  as  a  seal  to  his  service.  Such 
a  name  may  well  be  revered  with  the  names  of  Moses  and  of 
Paul,  and  should  never  cease  to  be  an  incentive  to  fresh  en- 
deavor and  fresh  achievement. 

Fraternally,  J.  W.  Burdette. 

Burlington,  la. 


Mr.  A.  R.  Turner,  Maiden.,  Mass.: 

My  Dear  Brother. — "  Judson,  the  first  American  mission- 
ary, is  the  typical  'Jesus  Christ's  man  '  of  foreign  missions,  of 
this  century." 

If  I  have  a  primary  conviction,  it  is  that  foreign  mission 

work  comes  the  nearest  to  apostolical  zeal,  of  all  Christian  work 

in  the  world. 

Yours,  in  kindred  work, 

Granville  S.  Abbott. 
Oakland,  Gal. 


Mr.  A.  R.  Turner,  Jr.,  Maiden,  Mass.: 

Dear  Brother  —  No  man  has  ever  been  born  in  America 
to  whom  such  remembrance  can  be  more  worthily  given;  and 
yet  union  in  such  a  demonstration  is  but  a  small  privilege  com- 
pared with  that  of  emulating  his  heroic  sacrifices  for  his  fellows 
and  for  the  truth  of  God.  The  memory  of  Judson  should  ever 
form  a  mighty  influence  in  the  heart  of  every  Christian,  and 
especially  every  Baptist,  stimulating  to  unmeasured  labor  and 
sacrifice  for  Christian  missions. 

Yours  fraternally,  James  N.  Boyce. 

Louisville,  Ky. 


Facsimile  of  the  City  Clerk's  Copy  of  the  Records 
OF  adoniram  Judson's  Birth, 

City  of  Malden, 

City  Hall, 

August  9,  1888. 

To  all  whom  it  may  concern  : 

This  is  to  certify  that  I  am  City  Clerk  of  the  city  of  Maiden, 
and  as  such  clerk  have  the  care  and  custody  of  Town  and 
City  Records.  By  such  Records,  Book  2,  page  39,  I  find  that 
"Adonirum  Judson,  son  of  the  Rev'd  Adonirum  and  Abigail 
Judson,  Born  Aug't  ye  9th,  1788." 

Attest :  A  true  copy  of  Record, 

Leverett  D.  Holden, 

City  Clerk. 


JUDSON    CENTENNIAL.  61 

My  Dear  31  r.  Turner : 

I  have  just  read  your  kind  invitation  to  attend  the  Centen- 
nial Anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Dr.  Judson,  at  the  First  Bap- 
tist Church,  Maiden,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A.,  August  9th. 

You  say  "  You  are  requested  to  send  your  pastor  and  at 
least  two  other  delegates."  If  we  were  to  accept  this  invitation 
those  whom  1  would  take  would  be  Moung  Eng  Tah,  a  Shan, 
who  became  a  believer  in  the  true  God  more  than  seven  years 
ago,  now  pastor  of  the  Shan  and  Toungthoo  Church  in  Thatone. 
Delegates,  first,  Moung  Gyee,  a  Dooroo  by  race,  from  the  Shan 
country,  by  the  Spirit  of  God  turned  from  heathenism  and 
made  an  humble,  devoted  follower  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Second 
delegate.  Old  Pah  Gyee,  a  Toungthoo  by  race,  from  the  Shan 
country,  instructed  and  baptised  by  Dr.  Judson,  more  than 
forty  years  ago.  He  and  his  wife,  with  some  few  other  native 
Christians,  he  says,  lived  for  some  time  on  Dr.  Judson's  com- 
pound, and  received  instruction  from  the  books.  He  has  a 
great  reverence  and  love  for  the  memory  of  Dr.  Judson,  of 
whom  he  frequently  speaks.  So  much  for  my  pastor  and  del- 
egates. 

Now,  if  we  accept  the  invitation  it  would  take  some  days 
to  get  there.  It  would  cost  some  I  And,  too,  we  would  get 
there  to  find  ourselves  too  late  for  the  meeting !  So  we  had 
better  content  ourselves  with  our  own  meetings,  in  our  heathen 
jungle  town,  and  get  all  the  pleasure  we  can  from  the  thought 
that  anyway  we've  had  an  invitation  to  that  far-away  Maiden 
meeting  in  the  western  world !  Dr.  Judson's  work  laps  over 
ours,  as  we  daily  read  and  teach  from  his  translation  of  the 
Bible. 

The  "  romance  of  missions,"  in  his  time,  has  gone  ;  but  the 
same  difiicult,  plodding  work  of  laboring  with  heathen  ignorant 
idolators  to  turn  to  the  true  God,  still  remains. 

Last  Sunday  three  Shans  were  baptised  here.  After  the 
meetings  at  the  chapel  we  repaired  to  a  mountain  stream  in  the 
jungle,  where,  with  solemn  prayer  and  singing  in  Burmese, 
three  souls  were  baptised  into  the  name  of  Christ.  O,  pray, 
please,  that  they  may  be  his  true  followers. 

Very  sincerely  yours,  Jennie  B.  Kelley. 

Thatone,  Burmah, 


EXTRACTS  FROM  LETTERS  RECEIVED. 


''  The  Holy  Spirit  *  *  *  sent  forth  Judson,  and  led  him 
all  his  journey  through."  Howard  Osgood,  D.  D. 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 

"  The  birth  of  Judson  was  a  more  important  event  than  the 
birth  of  Washington."  J.  H.  Griffith,  D.  D. 

Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

"  The  career  and  work  of  Dr.  Judson  will  grow  in  lustre  as 
the  centennials  shall  come  and  go,  and  shall  be  appreciated  in 
full  only  when  we  all  see  the  eternal  books  opened." 

Donald  D.  MagLauein. 

Minneapolis ,  Minn. 


""  The  century  is  marked  that  gave  birth  to  the  Apostle  of 
Baptist  Foreign  Missions.  A  century  of  missions  to  the  heath- 
en, of  the  abolition  of  African  slavery  in  the  civilized  nations  of 
the  world,  and  the  establishment  of  a  Christian  Free  State  on 
the  Congo,  in  the  heart  of  Central  Africa." 

R.  DeBaptiste. 

Galesburg,  III. 

"  To  be  a  messenger  of  the  King  of  Kings  seems  to  me  to  be 
the  highest  position  to  be  attained  by  man.  And  it  seems  as 
fitting  for  us  to  celebrate  the  birth  of  Judson  as  that  of  Wash- 
ington or  Longfellow."  Mrs.  G.  G.  Manning. 

Peru,  Ind. 

"  The  name  of  Adoniram  Judson  is  indelibly  inscribed  upon 
the  pages  of  history  as  that  of  one  of  the  grandest  and  most  self- 
sacrificing  lives  that  has  ever  been  known." 

Wm.  M.  Bushnell. 


JUDSON    CENTENI'IIAL.  63 

"  Whose  (Judson's)  devotion  to  and  service  in  the  cause  of 
Foreign  Missions,  renders  his  name  dear  to  every  Christian 
heart,  and  his  life  a  conspicuous  example  for  emulation,  for  all 
time.''  Hon.  Jno.  K.  C.  SleepePw 

Maiden,  Mass. 

ONE   BAPTISED   BY   JUDSON. 

"  I  had  hoped  that  our  deacon,  John  H.  Eaton,  might  also 
be  able  to  attend,  but  cannot,  chiefly  on  account  of  infirmities. 
Brother  Eaton  was  baptised  by  Dr.  Judson,  in  Maulmain,  in 
February  or  early  March,  1838.  He  was  a  sailor  on  the  barque 
Isabella,  that  took  out  Messrs.  Stevens,  Brayton,  and  Stetson,  I 
believe,  and  was  converted  during  the  passage.  The  ship  lay 
in  Maulmain  a  month,  arriving  February  19,  1838,  and  during 
that  time  Brother  Eaton  was  baptised,  in  company  with  a  Bur- 
mese woman."  Rev.  George  D.  Reid. 
Orange,  Mass.  » 


"  The  names  of  Adoniram  Judson  and  the  peerless  Anne 
Hazeltine,  from  earliest  childhood  were  synonymous  of  good- 
ness and  greatness,  nor  have  their  virtues  faded  as  I  have  be- 
come more  capable  of  understanding  them." 

Mrs.  a.  M.  Bacon. 

Chicago,  III. 

"  The  name  of  Adoniram  Judson  was  a  household  word  in 

my  father's  house,  from  my  earliest  recollection.     The  memory 

of  liis  gifts  and  graces,  and  of  the  noble  work  he  did,  belongs 

to  the  common  heritage  of  American  Baptists." 

John  C.  Broadus. 
Louisville,  Ky. 


LETTER   FROM  MRS.  ANN  H.  JUDSON. 


[Reprinted  from  Baptist  Missionary  Magazine.] 

In  this  centennial  year  of  the  birth  of  Adoniram  Judson,  and 
the  seventy-fifth  year  of  the  establishment  of  our  Ameiican 
Baptist  foreign  missions  by  Dr.  Judson  and  his  wife,  Ann  Has- 
seltine,  everything  pertaining  to  the  Judsons  is  of  interest. 
We  take  great  pleasure  in  presenting  the  first  letter  sent  by 
Mrs.  Judson  to  one  in  this  country  outside  of  her  own  family. 
It  has  not  been  published  before,  and  is  of  great  interest  as 
showing  her  feelings  just  after  the  conversion  of  her  husband 
and  herself  to  Baptist  views.  It  was  addressed  to  Mrs.  Jona- 
than Carlton,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  with  whom  she  was  acquainted 
before  leaving  America.  Mrs.  Carlton  was  greatly  interested 
in  mission  work ;  and  it  was  the  small  social  meetings,  held  in 
consequence  of  this  letter,  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of 
the  General  Convention  for  Foreign  Missions,  now  the  American 
Baptist  Missionary  Union.  Mrs.  Carlton's  daughter  became  the 
wife  of  Rev.  Luther  F.  Beecher,  D.  D.,  now  of  Brookline,  Mass., 
by  whose  kindness  a  copy  of  this  letter  has  been  furnished. 

Calcutta,  Oct.  21,  1812. 
My  Dear  Mrs.  C. —  A  recollection  of  the  intimacy  which 
once  existed  between  us,  and  which  has  for  a  few  years  been 
discontinued  on  account  of  our  local  separation,  strongly  urges 
me  to  wish  its  revival,  and  now  induces  me  to  write.  Although 
that  intimacy  was  sweet,  and  free  from  those  bitter  feelings  of 
which  a  difference  of  sentiment  is  generally  productive,  yet  a 
little  restraint  was  felt,  which,  I  am  happy  to  say,  is  now  re- 
moved. You  will  probably  hear  before  the  reception  of  this 
of  the  change  which  has  taken  place  in  Mr.  Judson  and  my- 
self, relative  to  baptism.  As  Mr.  Judson  has  written  the  par- 
ticulars respecting  our  change  to   Dr.  Baldwin,  it  is  unneces- 


JUDSON   CENTENNIAL.  65 

saiy  for  me  now  to  relate  them  to  you.  The  severe  trials  occa- 
sioned by  such  an  event  can  be  realized  by  those  only  who  are 
in  similar  circumstances.  The  anticipated  disapprobation  of 
friends  we  love  and  respect,  the  loss  of  the  patronage  of  the 
Board  of  Commissioners,  together  with  the  privation  of  the 
society  of  our  dear  missionary  associates,  exceedingly  depressed 
our  spirits.  We  felt  we  were  alone  in  the  world,  no  friend  but 
each  other,  no  one  on  whom  to  depend  for  protection  and  sup- 
port but  our  heavenly  Father.  Thus  circumstanced,  think,  my 
clear  Mrs.  C,  how  gratifying  to  our  hearts  the  prospect  of  hav- 
ing one  of  our  brethren  to  join  us.  Soon  after  we  were  baptised, 
brother  Rice,  compelled  from  a  sense  of  duty,  began  to  examine 
the  subject  more  thoroughly  than  ever  before,  although  he  has 
had  his  doubts  respecting  it  for  some  time.  I  think  he  is  con- 
vinced of  the  truth  of  the  Baptist  system,  and  will  join  us  in  a 
mission  in  some  part  of  the  Eastern  world.  Mr.  Rice  and  Mr. 
Judson  at  present  contemplate  a  mission  to  Java.  Mr,  Rice  is 
engaged  to  a  lady  in  America,  who  he  hoped  would  accompany 
him  to  India ;  but  she  had  so  little  time  to  prepare  for  so  impor- 
tant an  undertaking,  she  concluded  not  to  come.  Since  our 
arrival  here,  and  change  of  sentiment,  and  since  it  is  probable 
I  shall  be  the  only  female  in  the  mission,  we  have  written  ur- 
gent letters  to  have  her  follow  us  as  soon  as  an  opportunity 
offers.  As  it  is  expected  the  Commissioners  will  refuse  to  sup- 
port us  on  account  of  our  becoming  Baptists,  letters  have  been 
written  to  several  Baptist  ministers  in  America  to  form  a  society 
and  support  missionaries  in  this  country.  Should  this  take 
place,  it  will  be  some  time  before  a  society  is  formed  and  funds 
sufficient  to  defray  the  expenses  of  a  mission  be  procured. 
While  this  society  is  forming  will  you  not,  my  dear  sister,  make 
some  exertion  to  collect  a  small  sum  among  yonn:  female  friends 

sufficient  to  defray  the  expenses  of  Miss 's  voyage,  should 

she  conclude  to  come  ?  Will  those  females  who  are  surrounded 
with  all  the  comforts  and  even  the  luxuries  of  life,  refuse  to 
contribute  to  the  happiness  of  a  solitary  female  in  a  strange 
land,  without  a  mother,  sister,  or  female  friend  ?  No.  I  know 
they  will  rejoice  to  have  the  opportunity  of  doing  something 
for  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer,  for  the  souls  of  the  heathen,  and 


66  JUDSON    CENTENNIAL. 

for  the  comfort  of  those  who  have  left  their  native  land  for  the 
spread  of  the  gospel.  I  know  you  will  use  your  influence 
among  your  friends  to  make  this  collection,  when  you  reflect 
how  much  I  shall  need  a  female  to  assist  in  the  mission,  and 
when  you  are  informed  how  useful  females  are  in  this  country. 
Schools  are  needed  extremely  ;  and  unless  there  are  two  females 
in  a  mission,  a  school  cannot  be  attended.     If  there  can  be  suf- 

cient  collected  to  pay  Miss  's  passage,  will  you  take  the 

trouble  of  writing  to  her  immediately,  as  she  may  probably 
delay  coming  on  account  of  there  being  no  society  to  bear  the 
expense  of  her  passage  ?  I  intend  writing  to  Mrs.  Bolles,  of 
Salem,  on  the  subject,  if  I  have  time  before  this  vessel  sails.  If 
I  do  not  write,  be  so  kind  as  to  request  her  to  make  the  same 
exertions  among  her  female  friends,  with  yourself.  I  leave  this 
affair  with  you,  my  dear  Mrs.  C,  in  the  hands  of  God,  who  has 
the  entire  disposal  of  his  creatures.  We  have  found  by  expe- 
rience, since  we  left  our  native  land,  that  the  Lord  is  indeed  a 
covenant-keeping  God,  and  takes  care  of  those  who  confide  in 
him.  I  have  ever  considered  it  a  singular  favor  that  God  has 
given  me  an  opportunity  to  spend  my  days  in  a  heathen  land. 
Though  he  has  made  it  my  duty  to  give  up  endearing  connec- 
tions, and  suffer  many  privations,  yet  he  has  made  me  feel  that 
he  is  my  portion ;  and  I  am  happy  in  the  prospect  of  spending 
my  days  in  instructing  those  who  have  never  yet  heard  of  Jesus. 
If  I  may  be  instrumental  in  leading  some  infant  female  to  lisp 
the  praise  of  God,  I  shall  rejoice  in  the  sacrifice  of  country, 
reputation,  and  friends.  You  can  form  no  idea  of  the  melan- 
choly state  of  the  heathen  in  this  part  of  the  world.  Heathen, 
idolatrous  temples  are  everywhere  erected,  and  the  ignorant 
multitudes  pay  their  devotions  to  the  most  odious  figures  of 
their  own  making.  But  their  devotions  and  maxims  are  not 
calculated  to  reform  the  heart  of  life.  It  is  all  outward  show, 
without  the  least  appearance  of  solemnity  or  holy  devotion. 
How  unlike  the  religion  of  the  meek  and  holy  Saviour !  How 
opposite  its  effects  and  consequences !  Who  would  not  be  will- 
ing to  sacrifice  worldly  comfort  to  communicate  the  news  of 
salvation  to  the  benighted  pagans?  And  what  Christian  in  our 
native  land  but  will  rejoice  to  have  an  opportunity  to  contribute 


JUDSON   CENTENNIAL.  67 

his  mite  for  this  glorious  object?  O,  my  dear  Mrs.  C,  pray- 
much  for  us  in  this  infant  mission.  Pray  that  we  may  be  spir- 
itual and  holy;  and,  when  your  little  social  circle  meet  for 
prayer  and  praise,  remember  these  poor,  ignorant  females  in  a 
heathen  land,  who  know  no  such  joys,  who  have  no  animating 
hopes  to  comfort  their  hearts  in  the  dreary  hour  of  death. 

I  shall  write  you  all  the  particulars  of  the  mission  when  we 
are  settled.  Write  me  every  opportunity,  and  be  assured  your 
letters  will  be  a  cordial  to  the  heart  of, 

Your  still  affectionate,     -  Nancy  Judson. 

Brother  and  sister  Newell  are  gone  to  the  Isle  of  France.  1 
have  not  heard  of  them  since  they  went.  The  missionaries  at 
Serampore  are  still  successful.  They  have  constant  additions 
to  their  church.  Mr.  Judson  and  myself  are  residing  at  a  Mr. 
Polt's  in  Calcutta,  where  we  are  very  kindly  treated.  Let  me 
once  more  request,  my  dear  Mrs.  C,  you  will  do   all  in  your 

power  toward  having  Miss ■  come  to  us.    She  is  eminently 

qualified  to  be  in  a  mission.  But  I  need  not  be  so  urgent  with 
you,  who  have  the  cause  of  God  so  near  your  heart ;  yet  let  rae 
again  ask  you  to  write  her  and  encourage  her  coming. 


The  LoKb5'  Frvkyer  in  Burme5e. 

^oocooSoso?  ^caDccoQoSSSg^olseeoooii  SScsooSoo^ 
GoooSolffOcoooiioacSGooSoD^coooSsooSc^lQ^^ooc^qS 

G^^gQC^T^ol^^^olcOeoOOll  O3OOoSiSg8GCOOoSGOOOO30O 
C^030g)|5c^9a08CSCj^oS03©^a3c8S8CO800^O8CO05Qolll0^ 
O0dlg00^03Cg]|5c§C^QS^O8G0OOQ3GS(gO8C^03Og)|(5'<^ 

OD^cgoSaDob::^03ogj|6'c^c^03QS<go8c^cgoSGooS(^olii  oa 
QS  eog8  csooScpcS  oc^oSg0c6  acoooSs  ex)o  03«  oacp  ^8 

Oo£8C:goSol«^03G^oS800oSoOO|08GOo5(j^olll      llOSOoSll 


THK     MISSIONARY'S      BRIDE. 


AN    INCIDENT   IN   THE  LIFE   OF   ADONIRAM   JUDSON,   D.    D. 


Dr.  Judson  was  three  times  married.  His  first  wife  was 
Ann  Hazeltine,  one  of  that  band  of  pioneer  missionaries  who 
left  this  country  in  1812.  She  was  a  woman  of  wonderful 
energy  and  fortitude,  and  sustained,  as  few  could  have  done, 
the  hands  of  her  husband  the  first  twelve  years  of  his  eventful 
life.  His  second  wife  was  Sarah  Boardman,  the  widow  of 
George  D.  Boardman,  his  associate  in  the  mission  work.  She 
was  a  lady  of  great  purity  and  sweetness  of  character,  and 
walked  by  his  side  for  a  score  of  years,  ministering  tenderly  to 
his  necessities  in  all  time  of  his  trial  and  adversity.  She  died 
at  sea,  and  was  buried  at  St.  Helena,  when  returning  with  her 
husband  to  their  native  land  in  1845.  His  third  wife  was  Emily 
Chubbuck,  a  young  lady  somewhat  celebrated  at  the  time  in 
literary  circles,  as  a  writer  of  works  of  fiction,  and  a  contributor 
to  the  magazines  of  the  day,  under  the  nom  de  plume  of  Fanny 
Forrester.  The  great  disparity  in  their  ages,  and  the  fact  that 
she  was  but  little  known  in  the  religious  world,  caused  the 
engagement  to  be  sharply  criticised.  Especially  did  it  bring 
grief  and  amazement  to  some  of  Dr.  Judson's  cherished  and  life- 
long friends.  The  wisdom  of  his  choice,  however,  was  soon 
apparent  to  all,  and  to-day  her  memory  is  embalmed  in  the 
affections  of  thousands  of  Christians  of  all  lands,  as  one  of  the 
illustrious  trio  of  women,  who  shared  in  the  labors  and  suffer- 
ings of  this  eminent  servant  of  the  cross. 

An  incident  which  occurred  in  his  courtship  with  this  last- 
named  wife  forms  the  subject  of  the  following  poem  : 

A  young  man  in  the  Pagan  world 

The  banner  of  the  Cross  unfurled  ; 

Where  Christian  foot  had  seldom  trod, 

He  bore  aloft  the  ark  of  God  ; 

And  published,  through  contempt  and  shame, 

The  Gospel  in  Jehovah's  name. 


JtJDSON    CENTENNIAL.  69 

To  his  commission,  so  sublime, 
He  gave  the  wealth  of  manhood's  prime ; 
The  added  strength  of  later  years, 
When  faith  had  triumphed  over  fears; 
The  seed  he  scattered,  fruitage  bore. 
Which  nerved  him  for  new  trials  more ; 
Through  graee  he  overcame  his  foes; 
The  desert  blossomed  as  the  rose, — 
When,  weary,  with  his  staff  in  hand, 
He  turned  toward  his  native  land, 
He  left  beneath  the  hopia  tree. 
The  bride  he  bore  across  the  sea; 
And  laid  within  an  ocean  grave 
Another  just  as  true  and  brave; 
Then  trod,  his  weary  wanderings  o'er, 
An  aged  man,  his  native  shore. 

Oh  !  never  round  the  hero's  brow 

Were  greener  laurels  wi'eathed  than  now; 

Old  age  embraced,  the  young  man  pressed. 

With  welcomes  warm,  the  honored  guest. 

His  courtly  bearing,  quiet  air. 

Bespoke  the  man  of  culture  rare  ; 

And  crowds,  charmed  by  his  broken  tongue, 

Upon  his  speech  delighted  hung  ; 

And  Zion  clasped  him  to  her  breast. 

And  bade  her  weary  servant  rest. 

But  Time  a  wondrous  change  had  wrought, 
And  few  remained  of  all  he  sought; 
And  tarrying  for  a  while,  anew. 
He  longed  his  mission  to  pursue; 
Yet  not  alone, —  he  still  must  share 
The  love  of  gentle  woman  there; 
Some  hand  must  hold  till  set  of  sun. 
Till  his  great  work  of  life  were  done. 

So,  artless  as  a  child  at  play, 
He  wandered  up  and  down  the  way. 
And  caught  at  last  a  pleasant  smile 
From  one  who  could  his  hours  beguile; 
And  acted  o'er  the  lover's  part. 
And  offered  to  the  maid  his  heart. 
Then,  rumor  in  an  old  man's  ear 
Whispered  a  tale  of  doubt  and  fear; 


70  JtlDSON   CENTENNIAL. 

An  Elder,  earnest,  honest,  wise, — 
The  story  filled  him  with  surprise. 
A  pupil  of  the  olden  school, 
He  made  the  law  of  Christ  his  rule; 
All  plans  and  projects  he  abhorred. 
Which  had  not  a  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord." 
Should  his  dear  brother,  growing  gray. 
To  Cupid's  arrow's  fall  a  prey  ? 
Should  one  without  a  call  from  God, 
Tread  by  his  side  the  paths  he  trod  ? 
Should  gossips  sport  with  Judson's  name,- 
With  scandal  tarnish  his  pure  fame  ? 
Would  the  thrice-uttered  vow,  if  given, 
Meet  the  approving  smile  of  heaven  ? 

His  duty  seemed  as  clear  as  day, 
And  conscience  counseled  no  delay; 
So,  gathering  courage  as  he  went, 
With  solemn  mien,  and  look  intent. 
He  to  the  village  damsel  spoke. 
And  thus  to  her  the  matter  broke: 

"A  rumor,  child,  has  come  to  me, 
That  you  will  Mrs.  Judson  be  ; 
Pray  tell  me,  ere  that  Dr.  J., 
Loved  of  the  Lord,  passed  oh  this  way, 
Were  you  impressed  it  was  God's  will 
That  you  should  such  a  station  fill  ? 
That  you  should  to  the  heathen  go. 
And  lift  them  from  their  shame  and  woe  ? 
And  as  His  herald,  should  declare 
The  tidings  of  salvation  there  ? 
Had  you  conceived  of  such  a  life. 
Till  Judson  sought  you  for  his  wife  ?  " 

"  Now,  Father  Peck,"  Ihc  maiden  said. 
As  modestly  she  dropped,  her  head, 

"  1  trust  the  Lord  is  guiding  me 
To  do  His  will  on  land  or  sea. 
You  say  the  Spirit  should  decide 
The  question,  Shall  I  be  his  bride  ? 
I  do  not  know  how  this  may  be, 
But  one  thing  was  revealed  to  me; 
When  I  was  pressed  for  yes  or  no, 
A  voice  spoke  very  plainly,  'Go.' — 


JUDSON    CENTENNIAL.  71 

So  plain,  my  trusting  heart  spoke  out 
That  simple  Yes,  without  a  doubt. 
And  now  I  hope  that  you,  and  all, 
Will  see  I've  had  a  special  call." 

The  aged  father  naught  could  say 
To  her  reply,  but,  "  Let  us  pray;  " 
And,  bowing  with  the  maiden  there, 
He  wrestled  with  his  God  iu  prayer. 
He  prayed  for  Zion,  that  her  light 
Might  pierce  the  dreadful  shade  of  night; 
That  the  poor  Pagan  yet  might  see 
The  Sacrifice  on  Calvary; 
That  God  would  stay  his  brother's  hands 
When  toiling  in  those  far-off  lauds ; 
That  she,  his  chosen  one,  might  bless, 
With  woman's  tenderest  caress. 
The  evening  of  so  grand  a  life, 
And  be  the  good  man's  loving  wife. 

And  so  they  mated, —  you  have  seen, 
When  summer  dressed  the  hills  in  green. 
The  giant  oak,  pride  of  the  land. 
Alone  in  simple  grandeur  stand; 
And  you  have  seen  the  graceful  vine 
Round  the  old  trunk  itself  entwine. 
And  lend  to  age  a  charm  and  grace 
The  painter's  pencil  loves  to  trace. 
So  she,  fair  daughter,  gentle,  true. 
Sweet  child  of  genius,  fairer  grew. 
As  day  by  day  she  fondly  flung 
Her  arms  around  his  neck,  and  clung 
To  him,  his  all,  whate'er  betide, 
The  missionary's  angel  bride. 

Morn  broke  in  beauty  o'er  the  bay; 
The  islands  of  the  harbor  lay 
Like  gems  upon  the  water's  blue; 
From  out  the  West  a  fair  wind  blew; 
A  bark,  with  all  her  sails  unfurled. 
Is  starting  for  the  Eastern  w^orld; 
Upon  the  clear,  still  morning  air. 
Comes  up  the  voice  of  earnest  prayer; 
And  tears,  how  free  and  fast  they  fall. 
As,  "  Loose  the  cable,"  is  the  call  ! 


72  jtJDSON    CENTENNIAL. 

While  they,  the  loved,  the  young  bride  fair, 
And  he  with  thin  and  frosty  hair, 
Wave  to  us  one  long,  last  adieu. 

0  memory,  how  comes  back  that  view  ! 

1  see  them  standing  on  the  deck, 

As  the  brave  ship  becomes  a  speck, — 
Till  coast  and  headland,  native  shore. 
Return  their  farewell  glance  no  more. 

And  so  I  muse:  There  is  some  heart 

Ready  to  bear  with  us  a  part 

Of  burdens  that  are  on  us  cast, — 

Some  one  to  love  us  to  the  last; 

Some  hand  to  smooth  life's  rugged  way; 

Some  smile  to  cheer  us  day  by  day; 

Some  angel  with  a  radiant  brow 

Is  walking  with  us  even  now. 


DR.  JUDSON  AS  A  PREACHING  MISSIONARY. 


"  Personal  reminiscences  "  are,  of  course,  out  of  the  question, 
even  for  one  who,  like  myself,  was  born  in  Burmah,  my  parents 
only  arriving  in  the  country  to  learn  of  Dr.  Judson's  death 
at  sea,  in  1860.  Tbe  writer  may,  however,  claim  to  be  an 
illustration  of  Judson's  posthumous  influence,  inasmuch  as  his 
visit  to  Brown  University,  in  1845,  seems  to  have  had  a  deter- 
mining influence  on  my  father's  life,  and  through  him  on  me. 
I  have  been  asked,  however,  to  dwell  more  especially,  on  Dr. 
Judson's  posthumous  influence  as  a  pioneer  preacher  of  the 
gospel  to  the  heathen.  From  all  I  can  gather,  I  have  no  hesi- 
tation in  saying  that  his  influence  in  this  direction  is  greater 
than  in  any  other.  Great  as  was  his  literary  work,  chief  among 
which  was  his  peerless  version  of  the  Scriptures,  it  is  evident 
from  all  the  reminiscences  that  can  be  gleaned  of  his  life  that 
he  regarded  it  as  secondary  to  the  still  greater  work  of  preach- 
ing the  gospel.  While  the  Maulmain  reminiscences  gather 
chiefly  around  the  literary  work  which  necessarily  detained  him 
there  so  many  years,  all  the  other  parts  of  Burmah  which  are 
fragrant  with  his  memory  are  associated  with  his  work  as  the 
pioneer  preaching  missionary.  Even  in  Maulmain  I  was  struck 
by  reading,  in  his  life  by  his  son,  of  his  preaching  tours  among 
the  heathen  Karens  in  their  native  fastnesses,  before  the  days 
of  Abbott  and  the  Vintons, —  records  reminding  one  of  the  fact 
that  it  was  by  a  mere  accident  that  it  was  Boardman  at  Tavoy, 
and  not  Judson  at  Maulmain,  who  baptized  Ko  Thah-byu,  the 
first  Karen  convert,  who  was  ransomed  from  his  heathen  mas- 
ters by  a  Burman  Christian  under  Judson's  influence.  As  for 
the  other  places  of  Dr.  Judson's  residence,  so  much  are  they 
identified  with  his  work  as  a  preaching  missionary  that  I  cannot 
better  describe  the  latter  than  by  answering  a  question  often 
asked  us,  "  Where  have  you  crossed  the  pioneer  missionary's 
track  in  the  land  of  the  Judsons  ?  " 


74  JoDSOtSr    CENTENNIAL. 

In  answering  this  question  I  regret  to  say  that  it  has  never 
been  my  privilege  to  witness  the  scene  of  Dr.  Judson's  greatest 
sufferings  in  Upper  Burmah,  especially  as  it  was  solely  his  desire 
to  preach  to  the  best  advantage  that  led  him  to  choose  that  Mecca 
of  Buddhism  as  his  place  of  residence.  I  have  no  hesitation, 
however,  in  taking  you  in  imagination  with  me  to  Rangoon,  as  the 
scene  of  his  greatest  triumph  as  a  preaching  missionary.  Here 
was  set  that  great  example  which  has  been  an  inspiration  to  so 
many  weary  workers  since,  of  praying  for  and  laboring  with  so 
many  "  Buddhist  philosophers "  without  any  apparent  result, 
until  at  length  the  truth  found  a  lodgment  in  the  heart  of 
Moung  Nau.  All  that  is  needed  to  bring  those  weary  years 
vividly  to  mind  is  to  search  among  the  white  clothes  of  the 
dhobies\  or  washermen's  quarter,  in  Rangoon,  for  the  site  of 
the  first  za^/at  or  wayside  preaching  rest-house,  in  front  of  where 
the  Judson's  lived,  or  to  witness  a  baptism,  as  I  have  done,  in 
the  Royal  Lakes  at  the  base  of  Shay-da-gone,  the  great  golden 
pagoda  of  Rangoon,  where  Moung  Nau  was  baptized  by  Dr. 
Judson,  contrary  to  Buddhist  law,  by  the  pale  light  of  the 
moon. 

The  next  place  we  would  fain  take  you  is  where  we  first 
crossed  Dr.  Judson's  track  by  being  born.  We  refer  to  Hen- 
zada  (or  Henthada),  150  miles  up  the  Irrawaddy  River,  where 
Judson  was  wont  to  stop  and  distribute  tracts  on  his  tedious 
iourneys  by  boat  up  and  down  the  River  on  bis  way  to  and  from 
the  court  of  Ava  to  plead  for  the  privilege  of  preaching  the  gos- 
pel in  the  domains  of  the  Burmese  king.  May  not  the  seed 
then  sown  account  for  the  precious  harvest  of  souls  which 
awaited  the  sainted  Crawley  and  Thomas  who  afterwards 
founded  this  Mission  ?  At  any  rate,  Syah  Oo  Aing,  the  dear 
old  ex-pastor  of  the  Burman  Baptist  Church  in  Henthada,  still 
tells  a  thrilling  story  of  having  assisted  in  throwing  stones  at 
Dr.  Judson  in  Prome,  at  the  time  when  he  was  forced  to  relin- 
quish that  station  which  he  attempted  to  hold  after  the  first 
Burmese  war.  That  stoning,  however,  seems  to  have  operated 
like  the  "laying  of  the  witnesses'  clothes"  at  the  feet  of  another 
young   persecutor,  for   the  course  of  years  saw  this   Burman 


JUDSON    CENTENNIAL.  75 

relating  liis  experience  through  a  Karen  Christian,  as  an  inter- 
preter to  my  father,  who  in  turn  translated  it  into  English  for 
the  sainted  Crawley  who  had  recently  arrived  in  the  country, 
and  who  was  thus  early  cheered  by  the  reception  of  this  "  first 
fruits  of  Henthada  into  the  earthly  church." 

The  above  allusion  to  Prome  leads  us  to  mention  a  remark- 
able prophecy  uttered  by  Pr.  Judson  as  he  was  forced  to  aban- 
don tliat  great  city  where  he  so  longed  to  preach  all  his  life. 
It  seems  that  he  found  temporary  shelter  during  his  stay  in  that 
city  under  the  shadow  of  the  great  Shay-san-daw  pagoda,  to 
which  we,  like  all  strangers  in  Prome,  were  conducted.  Imagine 
the  effect,  upon  one  standing  at  the  base  of  that  pagoda,  of  Dr. 
Judson's  apostrophe  as  it  is  repeated  by  the  Burman  Christians 
to  this  day :  "  O  Shway-san-daw,  Shway-san-daw,  the  day  is 
coming  when  thy  shadow,  fall  where  it  may,  shall  not  fail  to 
fall  on  the  home  of  a  Christian  !  "  The  most  remarkable  thing 
about  the  prophecy  is  that  it  has  been  literally  fulfilled.  May 
God  hasten  the  fullfilment  of  that  other  prophecy,  published  in 
his  first  tract,  entitled,  "A  View  of  the  Christian  Religion,"  to 
the  effect  that  within  the  next  hundred  years  or  so.  Buddhism 
shall  be  numbered  with  the  effete  religious  systems  of  the  world. 

But  time  would  fail  us  to  tell  of  his  living,  much  less  of  his 
posthumous  influence  on  the  work  of  evangelizing  the  world  by 
the  apostolic  method  of  preaching.  We  would  fain  point  to 
his  desire,  expressed  in  the  public  meeting  of  the  Triennial 
Convention,  to  go  to  Arakan  where  we  expect  so  soon  to  go, 
rather  than  see  it  abandoned,  as  was  then  so  shortsightedly 
mooted,  provided  the  board  would  release  him  from  his  literary 
labors.  We  would  simply  close  with  the  picture  of  Judson 
laboring  with  more  than  one  of  our  earlier  missionaries,  whose 
predilections  were  more  in  an  educational  than  in  a  strictly 
evangelistic  direction,  suggesting  that  not  only  in  point  of  time, 
but  in  missionary  methods  as  well.  Dr.  Judson  was  not  only 
"the  apostle  of  Burma,"  but  the  foremost  missionary  of  modern 
times.  W.  F.  Thomas. 

Boston,  Aug.  27,  1888. 


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